A ghoulish good time is returning to the “world’s tiniest town with the biggest Halloween spirit,” as the month-long Boo-Coda Spook-Tacular begins on Wednesday, Oct. 1, in the Town of Bucoda with free daily trick-or-treating throughout the month from 5 to 8 p.m. at Joe’s Place, located at 118 S. Main St. in the South Thurston County community.
In October, the town’s name is officially Boo-Coda — as declared by mayoral proclamation every year.
“We are excited about this year's festival and the additional events we have added," Boo-Coda Mayor Callie Carpenter said in a news release.
While the traditional Haunted House in the town’s gymnasium building isn’t set up this year to allow for deep cleaning of the gym and the installation of a fire suppression system, as previously reported by The Chronicle, a plethora of other events have been added to this year’s Spook-Tacular.
These new events include a pumpkin pie-eating contest, pumpkin races and a pumpkin decorating contest, ghost hunting classes, a zombie dash, a pet costume parade, a Halloween-themed pavement chalk art contest, live music and more.
Additionally, while the main Haunted House won’t be open this year, a family-friendly one will be held on Oct. 24 and 25 from 6 to 9 p.m. inside the Bucoda Community Center at 101 E. Seventh St. in Boo-Coda. Admission is $5 at the door or $20 per family, or by donation of four non-perishible food items, four children’s books, a clean, usable blanket or coat, or a bicycle.
"Proceeds from the festival will go to support community projects, including our gymnasium — built in 1939 — safety needs, so that we can use it year-round for our residents and visitors,” Carpenter said. “We appreciate our sponsors BrightNight, Puget Sound Energy (PSE), Lucky Eagle Casino, The Chronicle, Simply Organic Café and Catering, Stone City Event Center, Get Fit Tenino and Papa's Diner for their support to make the festival happen.”
Aside from the daily trick-or-treating at Joe’s Place, the full Boo-Coda Spook-Tacular schedule is as follows:
Saturday, Oct. 4, Boo-Coda Hearse Processional and Viewing Day
• Oddfellow Grand Matriarch pancake breakfast, 10 a.m. to noon, inside the Bucoda Community Center. Cost is by donation with proceeds benefiting the Tenino Community Service Center Food Bank.
• Haunted Vendor Market, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the lot in between Joe’s Place and Liberty Market on Main Street in Boo-Coda, free to attend.
• Hearse Processional and Viewing, starting at 1 p.m., with the parade of hearses making their way down Main Street in Boo-Coda joined by the Tenino High School Band playing New Orleans-style jazz before the hearses park to their “final resting place” by Joe’s Place for the viewing, free to attend.
• Costume contest, starting at 3:30 p.m. in the Bucoda Community Center, with cash prizes of $100, $50 and $25 for the top three costumes. The contest is free to participate in and open to all ages, but participants must register at the information booth in front of the community center.
Saturday, Oct. 11, All Things Pumpkin Day
• Halloween-themed pavement chalk art contest, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Main Street in front of Joe’s Place. The contest is free to enter but participants must register at the information booth in front of the community center. Each artist will be assigned a four-by-four-foot pavement square and given chalk to draw Halloween-themed art. All art must be family friendly, no gore, violence or offensive imagery will be allowed. Judging will be based on color, theme, creativity and originality with prizes for the top three in three different age groups — 5 to 10, 11 to 17, and 18 and older. Free to enter.
• Halloween games and arts and crafts for children including rock painting and button making from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. inside the Bucoda Community Center, presented by the Bucoda Improvement Club and Bucoda-Tenino Healthy Action Team. Free to enter.
• Haunted Vendor Market, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the lot in between Joe’s Place and Liberty Market on Main Street in Boo-Coda, free to attend.
• The Great Pumpkin Pie Eating Contest, starting at noon at the Bucoda Community Center, with registration required available from 11 to 11:45 a.m. at the information booth in front of the community center. Nationally-known Olympia comedian Sam Miller will emcee the pie eating contest, sponsored by PSE, with the contest limited to 20 participants each in two age categories, 17 and under and 18 and older. Free to enter.
• The Great Pumpkin Race and Decorating Contest, beginning at 2 p.m. at the Bucoda Community Center. Participants can bring their own pumpkin or pick out one provided to decorate and put wheels on to race on a ramp track where they will be judged on time it takes to make it down the ramp and distance travelled. Awards will be given to the top three, to the pumpkin which comes in “dead last,” to the scariest racer, the flashiest racer, the most original racer, the best coordinated racer and participant and furthest distance travelled. Participants may only enter one pumpkin. Free to enter.
• Costume contest, starting at 3:30 p.m. in the Bucoda Community Center, with cash prizes of $100, $50 and $25 for the top three costumes. The contest is free to participate in and open to all ages, but participants must register at the information booth in front of the community center.
• Pet costume parade, starting at 4 p.m. in front of the Bucoda Community Center with awards for the top three costumes, free to enter.
• Forest Grove Cemetery Tours, from 4 to 8 p.m. at the cemetery located at 18011 Northcraft Road SE in Tenino. Tickets are $15 per person, or $35 per family, and can be purchased at the cemetery or online at https://tinyurl.com/khmybmpd.
Saturday, Oct. 18, Boo-Coda Casket Race Day
• Ghost Hunting 101 Class, from 11 a.m. to noon, on the second floor of the Bucoda Community Center. The class will be taught by Jake Rice of Ghostly Activities, who will give a brief ghost hunting history, talk about haunting types and tools of the trade along with discussing investigation basics, safety and ethics when it comes to visiting a haunted place in your area. Cost to attend is by donation.
• Haunted Vendor Market, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the lot in between Joe’s Place and Liberty Market on Main Street in Boo-Coda, free to attend.
• Casket Races, beginning at 1 p.m. on Main Street in front of Joe’s Place. Cost to enter is $100 per team if registered by Oct. 13, or $125 after Oct. 13, and teams can build their own caskets to race or use one provided. Teams must consist of four pallbearers pushing and one corpse to ride in the casket. For the full list of rules and casket building regulations and to register, visit https://tinyurl.com/mr3anw3m. The Casket Races are sponsored by BrightNight, and awards will be given to the fastest three caskets, the “dead last” finisher, the scariest casket, the funniest casket, the most original casket and the best costumed team and cortege.
• Costume contest, starting at 3:30 p.m. in the Bucoda Community Center, with cash prizes of $100, $50 and $25 for the top three costumes. The contest is free to participate in and open to all ages, but participants must register at the information booth in front of the community center.
Saturday, Oct. 25, Boo-Coda Family Fun Day
• Haunted Vendor Market, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the lot in between Joe’s Place and Liberty Market on Main Street in Boo-Coda, free to attend.
• Sick Boys Band concert, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Joe’s Place, free to attend.
• The Inflatable Costume Dash, starting at 1:30 p.m. in front of the Bucoda Community Center, free to enter. Racers are invited to wear inflatable costumes for a short race down Main Street with awards for the first place finishers in the age categories of 7 and under, 8 to 12, 13 to 17 and 18 and older.
• The Zombie Dash, starting at 2 p.m. in front of the Bucoda Community Center, free to enter. Racers are invited to don their best zombie costumes for a short race down Main Street with awards for the first place finishers in the age categories of 7 and under, 8 to 12, 13 to 17 and 18 and older.
• The Thrill the World Dance, at 3 p.m., when Boo-Coda will take part in the 19th annual world-wide simultaneous dance to Michael Jackson’s song “Thriller,” free to attend.
• Costume contest, starting at 3:30 p.m. in the Bucoda Community Center, with cash prizes of $100, $50 and $25 for the top three costumes. The contest is free to participate in and open to all ages, but participants must register at the information booth in front of the community center.
• Trunk or Treat Car Show, starting at 4 p.m. on Main Street in front of Joe’s Place. Participants must decorate their cars with a Halloween theme and check in at Joe’s Place by 3 p.m., along with being prepared to give candy out. Free to attend.
• Boo-Coda Ghost Hunting Tours, starting hourly at 7, 8 and 9 p.m. beginning at Joe’s Place. Check-in begins at 6:30 p.m., and attendees will be taken on a tour through five eerie stops throughout the town by three seasoned ghost hunters who will share Boo-Coda’s haunted history and local urban legends from the town’s old prison and other historic buildings.
For more information, visit Boo-Coda’s official website at https://bucoda.us/boo-coda or follow its Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BOOCODAWA.
