Halloween shows downtown growth

A perfect autumn evening with clear skies and temperatures in the mid-50s drew hundreds of people to downtown Maryville Wednesday for the 17th annual Trick-or-Treat Night.

The square filled with parents and costumed children trooping from door to door collecting candy from downtown business-folk, many of whom were themselves sporting a festive assortment of masks, wigs, capes and outlandish getups.

Members of the local Elks Lodge served up free hotdogs, and a variety of sweet treats were to be had from officials handing out candy in front of City Hall and the County Administration Center.

As usual, Maryville Public Safety Sgt. Rick Smail and Daren the D.A.R.E. Lion were on hand to pass out glow sticks to youngsters who plan on collecting still more candy tonight when Halloween arrives for real.

Smail said he expected to pass out 1,000 glow sticks on Tuesday in addition to another 1,000 that were scooped up by youngsters Oct. 20 during the Haunted Campground event at Mozingo Lake Park.

With a new streetscape in place around the square and a series of road-closing construction projects now at an end, downtown appeared to be bursting with energy Tuesday as smiling families walked along broad sidewalks bathed in soft autumn sunlight, a sight merchants doubtless hoped was a vision of things to come.

City Councilwoman Renee Riedel, whose family owns Carson's Sports Grille on Main Street, called Downtown Trick-or-Treat one of her "favorite events," both for its festive atmosphere and the traffic it brings to an aging commercial district fighting back against blight and empty storefronts.

"I really want to thank Kathy Rice (of Movie Magic) for setting this up," Riedel said, adding that this year's event was expected to draw as many as 2,000 people, more than a few of them from towns such as Stanberry, Clarinda and the half-dozen rural Nodaway County communities surrounding Maryville.

Riedel said this weekend — which follows Halloween and the home Spoofhounds football game tonight — is potentially the largest retail Friday-through-Sunday period of the year for several local businesses. That is largely thanks to Northwest Missouri State University's Homecoming festivities, which culminate with Saturday's parade and football game.

Dressed up as a Renaissance swashbuckler and handing out candy from behind an outer-office desk, Greater Maryville Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Luke Reven said this year's Halloween event did indeed offer several indications that downtown may be starting to come back after years of decline.

He said the "No. 1 factor" in the apparent resurgence — which has seen four new businesses spring up along Main Street in the past two years — has to do with the district's improved physical appearance coupled with a cultural ambience boosted by public art and special events such as the summer concert series.

He noted that several local businesses based in other parts of town, including the South Main Street corridor, had called the Chamber and asked to be part of the Halloween celebration.

"It's really a wonderful thing," Reven said, adding that much work remains to be done.

"It's a process," he said. "You never want to say that we're there. We're still in progress."