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VALLEY — Valley Parks & Recreation hosted a very well attended fall festival Tuesday evening at Valley Sportsplex. The large parking lot at the Sportsplex was nearly filled for most of the evening. The festival began at 6 p.m. EDT and went on for two hours.

“We had a really good crowd last night,” Valley Parks & Recreation Director Laurie Blount told The Valley Times-News Tuesday morning. “Everyone was well behaved, and the kids got lots of candy. The community came forward in a big way to help us, and we really appreciate what they did. We could not have had an event like that without their help.”

A total of 20 tables were set up around the main Sportsplex building. They were manned by local businesses and churches. Students and band boosters from Valley High were there as well.

The first stop along the walking tour was on the ball field to the right, where members of the First Baptist Church of Valley had some inflatables where the kids could burn a lot of energy jumping on them. Jacob Johnson, wife Ragan Johnson, Derek Ellzey and Weyman Kersey manned a table inside the gate and were giving people coming by boxes of popcorn.

Down the long walkway to the main Sportsplex building, the main center of activity awaited. Some 20 tables were spread out to encircle the three-story building. The first person the arriving crowd saw was six-year-old Savannah Carter dressed as a scarecrow. She eagerly filled each trick-or-treat bag presented to her with candy. Savannah was with her mom, Shannon Carter of Valley.

Among the first to stop was the Webb family. They included one-year-old Arabella Webb, eight-month-old Kyson Webb (who saw his first Halloween from a stroller), two-year-old Maeve Webb and four-year-old Carter Edwards, who was really proud of his Spiderman suit.

Valley High Beta Club members Sam Gray, Makaila Adams, Christian Johnson, Antoine Hatchett, Zach Finch and Jerrica Adams had a game of skill at their table. Anyone stopping by could win candy if they could lob a ping pong ball into a small cauldron from about five feet away. Not too many people were successful but that was OK since they received candy as a consolation prize. The students were accompanied by their faculty advisors Ellen Emfinger and Shanecia Gray.

VHS students Rihanna Swayn and Amari Lowe did lots and lots of face painting at their table.

Everyone walking through the festival remembers seeing Colby Jones, at least they remember the costume he was wearing. He came as Oogie Boogie from Disney’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” He was bright green from head to toe.

Women from Valley Family Dentistry also had a Disney theme at their table. Lisa Patterson was dressed as Bambi, Isha Thornton came as Snow White, Amaiah Edmondson as Shrek and Jennie McClendon as Maleficent. These characters appeared in Sleeping Beauty (1959), the 16th animated film from Walt Disney Productions.

Another character everyone remembers from the festival is the Ronnie Mitchell’s big inflated chicken. It was at the table hosted by members of the Evangel Temple Church in Huguley.

If there was an award for the most creative costume it would have to go to four-year-old Turner Jennings and nine-year-old Carter Williams. Turner came as a Coke machine and Carter a snack machine. It was most appropriate for a fall festival, where lots of treats are being given away. Turner and Carter were accompanied by their parents, Angel and Dontavious Jennings.