HALLOWEEN PARADE
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TOMS RIVER FIRE COMPANY No. 1
ANNUAL HALLOWEEN PARADE
The first Halloween Parade was held on October 31, 1919. The "Mardis Gras", as it was known then, was started as a fund raiser and nearly 500 people paid an entrance fee to march that first night.
The line of march took the participants from the ball field on Horner Street, down to Washington Street, over to Hooper Ave, down to Water Street, then to Main Street, up to Seward Ave, back down Main Street to Washington Street and up Horner back to the ball field where prizes were awarded and a block party was held.
The Top Prize in this first parade was a 1919 five passenger Ford touring car, "with lights and self starter". An estimated three thousand people, from as far away as Tuckerton, watched from the streets. The company made $500 on the parade, which was pretty good considering that the treasury closed out the previous year with a little over $21 in it. This tradition continued until 1921 and for unknown reasons stopped. in 1933, the parade was started up again, not as a fund raiser, but as a community celebration. Prizes were donated by local merchants and there wasd no entrance fee charged, a practice that continues to this day.
Click image below for details
The Toms River Volunteer Fire Company #1 organizes the Annual Halloween Parade each year traditionally on October 31 at 7pm. A long standing tradition by agreement with the local clergy stipulates that the Halloween Parade will not be held on a Sunday. Therefore, in 2010, the Halloween Parade will be held on Saturday, October 30, 2010 at 7pm. If a need for postponement arises, the postponement date is November 1, 2010 at 7pm.
Any questions and parade issues email the Halloween Parade Chairperson