This Halloween, the beloved tradition of trick or treating on Main Street in Gunnison will return. On Oct. 31, from 3-6 p.m., downtown will host the Gunnison Goblin Walk, presented by the Rotary Club of Gunnison.
While it’s the first year that the local branch of the Rotary Club will present the community Halloween trick or treat extravaganza, some of its members have experience from being involved in previous years.
Last year, the City of Gunnison took over the event from longtime sponsor, the Gunnison Country Chamber of Commerce. On behalf of the city, former Rotary Club President Katie Lewinger and her event company Professional High Fivers put on the downtown trick or treat event as well as the Holiday Night of Lights.
When Lewinger spoke with the city about presenting the event again this year, they voiced the hope that a community organization or local nonprofit may be able to take it on due to budget constraints, she said. This is when Lewinger suggested the idea to the Rotary Club, of which she is still an active member.
“The Rotary Club of Gunnison has been around since 1922. It’s one of the oldest nonprofit volunteer-based groups in the valley,” Lewinger said. “When the city was looking for a local [nonprofit] sponsor for the Halloween event, I thought Rotary would be perfect and presented it to the group. It was an easy decision for us to say ‘yes’.”
The Rotary Club has decided to call this year’s Halloween event the “Gunnison Goblin Walk.”
The nonprofit club actually has a history with Halloween in Gunnison. Lewinger explained that there have been various times in the town’s history when no one had plans to organize the downtown trick or treat event, so Rotary stepped in.
“Cathie Elliott was sharing memories with me from the 90s when the Rotary Club put together bags of candy and set up little stations of carnival games,” Lewinger said.
The Rotary Club’s international motto is “service above self,” a phrase that informs and directs all community service-related actions and projects in which they are involved. Some of these include giving dictionaries to third graders each year, helping the elderly with their yards, yearly holiday caroling partnered with the rec center, hosting an annual fishing derby and putting together gift baskets for seniors to receive over the holidays. The club steps in when and wherever it sees a community need that they can help fill.
“I’m really about inclusion,” Lewinger said. “Last year was the first year that we had tables and booths set up and invited organizations and businesses that don’t currently have a storefront downtown to get involved. We had different insurance agencies that aren’t downtown, we had the Cattle Women of the Gunnison Valley and Six Points, the Book Bus and even [businesses] from as far away as Camp Gunnison so it was really cool. It got everybody involved and so the Rotary Club is adopting that same theory this year.”
Lewinger explained how the Rotary Club of Gunnison has gone through its highs and lows with membership and funding, seeing a major dip during the pandemic. Since then, the local branch of the international nonprofit has bounced back and is seeing a major revival, with local people of all ages joining to help serve and support their community.
“Rotary Club of Gunnison is really thriving and strong right now. We have a ton of women in Rotary and a ton of people under 50 years old,” she said.
One of the major services that the Rotary Club is known for are its scholarships and youth grants. These financial gifts are awarded by the club’s scholarship committee to support students aspiring to attend college or trade school. The grants are awarded for various community-supporting endeavors, typically for youth but also occasionally for other individuals. Last year was an example of this exception, as a grant was awarded to help fund an alternative to annual summer camps while the schools were closed for construction.
Each year, the Rotary Club hosts a fundraising banquet honoring a local who serves the community in an exemplary way, as well as a student who embodies the club’s selfless motto. This year, the Hal Yale Service Above Self Banquet will take place in November honoring Maryo Gard Ewell and George Sibley.
The Gunnison Goblin Walk will take place on Friday Oct. 31 from 3-6 p.m. on Main Street. It will include booths and tables from local businesses and vendors, a photo booth provided by City Market, face painting, a fire truck for children to explore and enjoy provided by Hugo Ferchau and the Gunnison Fire Department, a burger grilling station from CC’s Burgers, a Howl-aween dog costume contest and, of course, tons of candy to be collected from local businesses during trick or treating.
Find more info about the Gunnison Goblin Walk or the Rotary Club of Gunnison on the club’s website rotaryclubofgunnisonco.com
(Gia Wright can be contacted at 970.641.1414 or gia@gunnisontimes.com.)
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