CAPE CORAL, Fla. — It's Halloween night, the first holiday bringing much needed happiness after a long month post Hurricane Ian.
While many are rebuilding their homes, others spent time building the spookiest Halloween display for trick-or- treaters. Providing much needed relief for our community.
“Halloween is for the scares, for the little kids to pass out candy, and for the kids to just have fun.”
It's all treat and no tricks, as Halloween night descends upon the tight knit community. A welcome sight for some who, like Kevin Riegel, wasn't sure if he had the energy to set up for.
“To be honest, I wasn’t going to decorate this year," said Riegel. "But a bunch of my neighbors came up to me about a week ago and said, ‘C’mon- you’ve got to put your stuff out.’”
So he took his rather ordinary yard, and turned it into something frighteningly fun. At a time, he says, when our community needs it the most.
“I think after the trauma that everybody went through and everybody lost so much, it’s good to just take time and just relax and have a little fun.”
Relief after the real life fears so many have had to face. Those nightmares still displayed on debris piled at the curb of many people's homes.
“We’ve had two debris pickups so it’s actually going to be clear for the kids to come out and get their treats," said Brandon Cay, who lives blocks away. He and his family have their yard decked out in Halloween decor. A yearly tradition looking to expand its ghoulish visitors.
“Even if people can’t go in their neighborhood, I’m hoping they can come here to this neighborhood and at least get candy," said Cay. "And their kids know that even though we had a terrible storm and Hurricane Ian came, people are out here still trying to give you a good time, get back to normal and get candy out here.”>>
A sense of normalcy, even with the spooky sights, lingering through the night.
“It’ll be good to see everybody out because there’s a lot of people that are safe, there’s a lot of people that were displaced," said Riegel. "So it’ll be good to catch up with everyone again tonight.”
