Some partygoers found themselves dancing on Court Street, while others were wearing handcuffs.
There’s only one night in Athens when ghouls, squirrels and Tiger Woods share a few drinks at the bars and walk the bricks of Court Street together.
Even though the rain picked up for this year’s Athens Halloween Block Party, crowds still enjoyed the live music, house parties and people watching as the night unfolded.
While some partygoers were dancing on Court Street, others found themselves wearing handcuffs in addition to their costumes.
The Athens Police Department made 28 arrests Saturday night as of press time, 12 arrests fewer than last year. The Ohio University Police Department arrested 43 people, including two felony arrests for cocaine possession and marijuana trafficking.
The Ohio Department of Public Safety Investigative Unit charged 63 people Saturday, all related to alcohol offenses. The Athens County Emergency Medical Services responded to 43 calls for service, with 38 of them from the block party. Of those, 24 transports were made to O’Bleness Memorial Hospital.
“We started doing runs earlier than usual,” Rick Callebs, chief of Athens County EMS, said. “We haven’t been overwhelmed. It usually trickles down.”
Athens Police Chief Tom Pyle confirmed the end of the night was slow, regardless of the rainy weather.
“I’ve worked 28 Halloweens, and this is about usual,” Pyle said.
Callebs said most of the calls to EMS were for intoxication and unconsciousness.
“It started earlier this year than it has in the past,” he said. “We started getting calls at 5 and 6.”
He said in previous years, the block party didn’t pick up until 7:30 or 8 p.m.
“This is as busy as we’ve seen Court Street,” he said.
Costumed people that walked the Athens bricks included a group of bananas walking around and Tiger Woods putting on Palmer Street. Partiers on Palmer Street watched someone dressed as Tiger Woods hit a golf ball into a crowd of horse cops.
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“There’s a lot of crazy costumes this year,” Kelley Stehura, an undecided Ohio University freshman said, pointing to Tiger Woods golfing.
Golf wasn’t the only sport played Saturday night. Partygoers dressed as the crew from the movie DodgeBall started a game in the middle of Court Street, including other random people on the street in the activity.
Over on Mill Street, one OU student decided to dress up as a squirrel.
“It’s an inside joke with me and my friends,” Zach Logsdon, a OU freshman studying meteorology, said. “I’ve taken four pictures with people so far.”
Devin Bradford, a student at Tiffin University, complained about the lack of variety in costumes.
“You know how, like, you’re not supposed to find Where’s Waldo?” Bradford said. "Well I’ve seen like 20 of them. … That’s the craziest thing I’ve seen tonight.”
For Jacob Baughman, a resident of Reynoldsburg, the craziest thing he saw was someone dressed as Ronald McDonald chugging a couple beers.
Those who chose to stay on Court Street weren't just college students, as many OU alumni and residents from surrounding towns attended the event.
Bill and Lynda Harris, a couple from Albany in their 40s, said they’ve been coming to Athens for the block party for about 20 years.
They were dressed as emoticons, with the words “LOL” and “TTYL” attached to their foreheads.
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“We wanted to go as something hip this year,” Bill said. “We wanted to do something fresh.”
Celia Summers, an employee of Mountain Laurel Gifts, said she is one of the founders of the original Athens Halloween Block Party started by Ohio University students in 1974.
“We embrace Halloween, as city dwellers and as business owners,” Summers said.
Others who attended the block party had mixed feelings about how many people were there.
“It just too crowded down here,” Aly Dettwiller, an OU sophomore studying biology pre-med, said.
Some partygoers took a break from the night’s activities to sit on their porches and eat a bowl of macaroni and cheese.
“Everyone’s costumes are really funny this year,” Mallory McManus, an OU junior studying early childhood education, said as she ate her macaroni.
Sarah Miller, a student from the University of Dayton, said the block party was exciting.
“I like how (the block party) is a huge group," Miller said. "It’s not just random houses."
For Jimmy Devitt, who said he saw a man vomiting and urinating at the same time in an alleyway, the Halloween festivities weren’t exactly what he expected.
“There’s a lot more house parties than I expected, and a lot more police,” Devitt, an Ohio State University junior studying marketing systems management, said.
— Luke Torrance, Madeleine Peck, Kyra Cobb, William T. Perkins, Lauren Fisher, Megan Henry and Bailey Gallion contributed to this article.
@Fair3Julia
Jf311013@ohio.edu
