The St. Croix East End Marine Park brought together witches, Spider-Men, astronauts, princesses and more Saturday night for an early Halloween celebration and “Trunk or Treat” on the island’s south shore.
For the fifth year, a dozen or so entrants transformed the backs of their cars into spooky, interactive tableaus for kids to experience while getting an early start on their candy collecting. Kelcie Troutman, the park’s environmental outreach coordinator, said the event was one of several events meant to familiarize the St. Croix community with the park and its mission of environmental stewardship.
“I’m hoping that then they go into the visitor center and they get to learn a little bit more,” said Troutman, sporting a pair of large, sparkly wings on Saturday night. The marine park is a protected area with strict restrictions on most forms of fishing. Troutman said only hook-and-line fishing is permitted within 100 feet of the shore.
“And the reason for that is that the East End Marine Park is a really important nursery for a lot of commercially important fish,” she said. “So if you leave them alone here, then it’s just spillover effects — they kind of go elsewhere, and they … keep our population fed here in the V.I.”
Some of the entrants on Saturday said they spent weeks or more putting together their Trunk or Treat displays. Brian Lofton, dressed as a blood-spattered carny, said he spent two days on a hand-built “Wheel of Fate” at his and Sarah Thompson’s “Carnevil” display.
“This is just an awesome event,” Thompson said. “We love it.”
“The kids just have so much fun,” Lofton added. “We just think this is such a cool version of Halloween, versus going house-to-house.”
While the East End Marine Park may be done with costumes and candy until next year, Troutman said there are still opportunities to get involved with the park’s work. The park is currently seeking a natural resource management and outreach intern and looking to fill a two-year coral fellowship funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. For this year’s Coral Reef Week, Troutman advised that people hang on to their Carnival costumes.
“The theme is going to be ‘repurposing.’ We are going to have a fashion show, and we want people to make their costumes from repurposed items or recycled items,” she said.
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