Check back with The Post for Halloween'14 updates and news during the block party celebration!
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1:45 a.m. update from Su Park
At about 12:25 a.m., a male was found on the middle of the street in front of Cornell Jewelries store with four EMS correspondents. A carrier was sent five minutes after.
In between the performances, students in front of the nearest stage started chanting “OU Oh Yeah.”
Court Street was packed with students, either constantly moving up and down the street or standing in lines for bars and restaurants.
“We love Halloween,” said Pamela Roloins, owner of Mount Laurel gift shop. “I just love the variety of costumes. I love to see people actually make their costume. I love the creativity.”
A group of male students who dressed up as KISS band members performed on the street with their guitars swinging all over.
“We chose to be KISS because it is very distinguishable and very recognizable,” said Garrett Cross, junior studying architecture.
“All four of us are roommates,” added Danny O’Callaghan, junior studying engineering technology. “We wanted to be something together, and we came up with KISS.”
When asked about the favorite memory of this year’s Halloween so far, Taylor Henning, junior studying game design and animation, and William Crook, junior studying finance, answered “singing in front of thousands of people.” Later Crook corrected his term from singing to performing.
Deputy sheriff Sam Disaia said the night has been great. “Nothing out of ordinary happened,” he said. “Everybody seems like they are having fun, and nothing crazy happened.”
A total of 41 calls were made to EMS throughout the night by 12:40 a.m., most of them regarding intoxicated subject and injuries from falls.
“More than half of them were sent to the hospital,” said Amber Pyle, Athens EMS assistant chief.
This year’s Halloween seemingly gave somewhat different perspective to some partygoers.
“I know a sound guy of the band who just played here,” said Joseph Carmen, 22, of Akron. “I was here last year too, but I’m shocked at the amount of people making out and all over each other thus year.”
1:07 a.m. update from Samuel Howard
Just after 1 a.m., an arrested update was posted to the Athens Halloween Block Party Facebook page.
The totals are:
APD - 29 arrests
EMS - 41 responses (27 transports)
AFD - 2 calls for service
1 a.m. update from William T. Perkins
Athens County Emergency Medical Services had reported 36 emergencies by 12:30 a.m. Officials said most of the reports were related to intoxication.
EMS Chief Rick Callebs said most years they see anywhere from 35 to 45 emergency reports.
“We’ve had upwards of 70, but that’s rare,” he said. “This seems like an average year.”
Callebs said that they’ve had a number of reports of unconscious partiers, as well.
Lt. Jason Kline of the Athens County Sheriff’s office said this year’s festivities seemed relatively tame.
“Everyone seems calm and happy,” he said, adding that the year seemed particularly slower than the previous.
The night did become somewhat explosive after a few roman candles were set off near the North Stage at about 12:15 a.m., but no one appeared injured.
“This is awesome,” said Alec Brasher, a Lewisburg resident. “Look around you. Don’t you just feel so welcomed? It’s awesome.”
12:10 p.m. update from Julia Fair
Students on Mill Street evacuated the street as the eleventh hour of the night passed.
As the students walked their way back up to Court Street, one of the Athens Police Department horses had a mild freak out with the influx of students passing by. With a few commands from his designated police officer, the horse calmed down.
Economic major sophomore Shawn Kinlin was wearing recycled beer cartons and celebrating his 20th birthday, which is tomorrow.
When asked what the craziest thing he’s seen tonight, he replied “me” and continued to yell at passersby that his birthday was tomorrow.
Izziah Hill, a highschool student on campus told The Post about a fight he saw between a Santa Clause in a fat suit with a sumo wrestler in a fat suit in front of Whit’s ice cream shop.
Amber Pyle, Assistant Chief of Athens County EMS said “we’re slammed,” explaining that they started with 6 EMS trucks and now they have none on stand by at the EMS tent. But she said that HallOUween is “the same of years past.”
11:25 p.m. update from Heather Hare
Amber Pyle, Assistant Chief of Athens County EMS, said the last half an hour was slammed.
“We had six EMT trucks and now we have none,” Pyle said to indicate all available units were out on calls.
Athens resident Alex Andrews, dressed as Lucifer, said he spoke to the church group in the middle of Court Street protesting the event.
They shut down the party and music in the parking lot by Lucky’s Sports Tavern at about 10:45 p.m.
Cassie Wojick, a senior from OU, said she saw a girl throwing up outside of Fusion Noodles and tried to help her.
“I’m from Chicago and this is all really new to me. I’m not used to this because it isn’t something you see everyday,” Wojick said.
Paul Campbell, an OU junior, said he particularly enjoyed the costume contest.
“It’s been a great night,” he said. “I was in the costume contest and everyone cheered. I twerked.”
OU graduate student Ryan Lovingood said “it was nice seeing everyone have a good time. The police presence was comforting and seemed to keep everything running smoothly”
10:52 p.m. update from Josh Lim
The Athens Halloween Block Party has begun to catch momentum with more people in costumes flooding Court Street.
And some participants are looking to get lucky.
Martin Stephan, 21, of Marietta, Ohio, was wearing a signboard that said “Kiss me, I’m desperate” because he saw how effective it was on a YouTube video.
“I’ve been here for ten minutes,” Stephan said. “I’ve got two (kisses) so far.”
But some costumes were not as simple as Stephan’s
AJ Newton, an OU student majoring in outdoor recreation and education, said he spent five months making his “War Machine” costume.
Kyra Willner, an OU student studying commercial photography, said her night would be made if she gets to kiss a cute cowboy.
Athens County Interim Sheriff Rodney Smith said at about 9:45 p.m. that the crowd was quiet at the moment, but he expects the street to be crowded later in the night. Smith added the peak hours of the block party is usually midnight.
“It’s a very nice night,” Smith said. “I would imagine once Mill Street starts closing down, the crowd will increase a good bit.”
Athens city officials showed concern during past weeks about the Ebola virus, fearing there were longshot chances for an outbreak during the block party, but Smith said he has no concerns about that matter.
“I think we’ve taken all the precautions that we can to make sure that we have any outbreak we are prepared for it.” he said.
10:15 p.m. update from Emma Ockerman and Bethany Bella
By 9 p.m., Mike Carson, owner of Mike’s Dog Shack, 20 S. Court Street, was nearly out of the beer he had been preparing all week to sell.
Thankfully, that meant he might be able to pack up shop just a bit earlier than its usual 1 a.m. closing time. He added that sales had been excellent, respectively.
“Blame it on Halloween,” he said. “It happens.”
Carson added that he had yet to see too many problems into the night thus far, aside from students wielding open containers on Athens’ city streets.
However, Kyle Shell, a junior studying education, had seen a few more.
He was socializing at a Palmer Place apartment when he witnessed a collective effort to uproot a tree, which he described as being roughly the height of a street lamp, from the property.
“They completely uprooted it,” Shell said. “They were yelling ‘F—k that tree.’”
There was also a plethora of Ohioans doting the city streets that were not Ohio University students.
Bob Bailey, a resident of Meigs County, was out photographing the Halloween Block Party with Shirley Vanmeeker at Dale’s BP on Court Street.
“Every year I take pictures,” Bailey said. “I haven’t seen anything super unusual tonight.”
James Edwards, a single parent from Athens, was sitting with his daughter Lexi on Court Street offering kisses to partygoers from his dog: a Chihuahua name Biscuit.
However, he was hoping he might receive a few donations for the task.
“We did this once before,” Edwards said. “We made $135 last year.”
As of 8:45 p.m., he had made $5.
Liam McSteen, a 15-year-old student at Athens High School, was out dressed for the festivities as a fake ID.
“It’s my first year,” he said. “It’s kind of awesome.”
He added that when it came time to apply for college, he would definitely be choosing OU.
Athens County interim Sheriff Rodney Smith noted that there had not been any problems with the block party so far.
“So far, so good,” he said. “The crowd is pretty mild, it’s filtering pretty quickly. People are sticking to their house parties.”
9:40 p.m. update from M.C. Tilton
HallOUween has begun.
Though early in the night, the streets of the city of Athens have become a zoo of frightening costumes and frightening behavior. Cheering, crowdsurfing, and barhopping are the norm for Athens residents and Ohio University students alike at the Court St. Halloween block party.
Athens County Interim Sheriff Rodney Smith said his main goal for the night is to ensure the streets are as safe as possible.
“It’s a collaborative effort between the police and the EMS for safety,” Smith said. “Tonight’s turnout is light thus far, but we’re prepared for the big crowds later.”
Similarly, Athens County assistant EMS chief Amber Pyle said her team is on the lookout for injuries and dangerous incidents of intoxication. “Hopefully we’ll have nothing more serious than some ankle injuries,” Pyle said.
Pyle has a team of six EMS vehicles and two retrieval teams for a total of 22 personnel on call. So far, only one EMS vehicle has been dispatched — it went to Fern Street
Terry Boger of Ali Baba’s Indian food truck, said he is ready for the inevitable rush to his truck at the corner of Court and Union streets.
“Our refrigerator is packed to the max,” Boyer said. “I’m pretty excited – we see a lot of craziness here every weekend, but craziness like this can only happen once a year.”
Notable costumes of the night include a fisherman fishing along the Athens County Courthouse steps fishing into the crowd with a dollar bill as his bait.”
“I wanted to blend in with the family this weekend,” said Corey Hayes, a sophomore dressed as an Ohio University squirrel.
"Just keep swimming!" #HallOUween @ThePostCulture pic.twitter.com/Joh7eB4HfS
— elise zeitzheim (@sweeet_elise) October 26, 2014
Dance battle at #HallOUween! @ThePost pic.twitter.com/3hx8lhQdry
— Meryl Gottlieb (@buzzlightmeryl) October 26, 2014
The Lokoween stage is clearing out as the costume contest starts #HallOUween @ThePost @ThePostCulture http://t.co/Jg2gBoXsZi
— Meryl Gottlieb (@buzzlightmeryl) October 26, 2014
A very creative costume inspiration from #Avatar, which she said was easy to do because she has dreads #valid #HallOUween @thepostathens #AthensHalloween
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"I wanted something to match the dog," said Athens resident Ellen Gagliano with her dog, Foxy. Gagliano is here with her 11 year old daughter, showing her #hallOUween for the first timeSet up of the Kickstarter funded barrier still underway as the Block Party grows. @thepostathens #HallOUween
6:40 p.m.
It's almost 7 o'clock, and the south stage on Court Street is still being set up, according to Post reporters covering the Halloween event.
Our live coverage of #HallOUween Block Party starts now. The music is already running late on the South Stage.
— The Post Culture (@ThePostCulture) October 25, 2014
Jonathan Holmberg, Chairman of the Clean + Safe Halloween Committee, said every set will have to be pushed back. pic.twitter.com/187YvrWB9R
— The Post Culture (@ThePostCulture) October 25, 2014
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Check back to get all related Halloween and block party updates throughout the weekend.
