By Paul Thompson
Northeast News

The first snowflakes of the season didn’t stop revelers from descending upon the Historic Northeast for the 24th annual Scare-it Halloween event last night.

Sponsored by the Scarritt Renaissance neighborhood, Kansas City Museum, Kansas City, Missouri Parks and Recreation, and the Neighborhood Tourist Development Fund (NTDF), the annual event shuts down several blocks of Gladstone Blvd. to provide a safe space for residents throughout the metro to bring their kids trick-or-treating. Dozens of homes participated in the event, with many hosts dressing in elaborate costumes, including an impressive Caesar’s Palace theme at the Stevens House – owned by Jeff Zumsteg and Jeff Linville – located right across the street from the Kansas City Museum. The Las Vegas theme included the famed Caesar’s Palace lettering, an Elvis impersonator, Zumsteg dressed as a Roman guard, and many more touches.

Roughly 135,000 pieces of candy – or 1,300 pounds – were purchased for trick-or-treaters. Scarritt Renaissance resident Benjamin Gall was the lead organizer for Scare-it Halloween; it was his first year serving in that capacity.

“Luckily, since this is the 24th year, we’ve got a lot of experience,” Gall said in the minutes before the event kicked off. “Everybody in the past has helped out quite a bit, and they’re helping out now. It’s been pretty good.”

As always, the event attracted big crowds to Northeast Kansas City. Among the attendees was KCMO Mayor Sly James, who spoke to the Northeast News about the ever-increasing reputation of the annual event.

“They’ve established a really cool tradition; they go full-out with the decorations, the costumes and everything else,” James said. “They make it a really cool deal for the kids. It’s safe and it’s predictable – not necessarily what it’s doing, but it’s predictable in the quality and where you go. There’s no hassle; everybody’s on the same page.”

Next year will be the 25th year for Scare-it Halloween, so what are Gall and neighborhood leaders planning for the special occasion?

“For the 25th, we’re going to see,” said Gall. “We’re going to try to be more collaborative with all the neighbors to see if we can come up with a nice, cool, crazy idea.”

James added that he will continue to support Scare-it Halloween as long as he remains mayor.

“What happens when I’m gone, I can’t say, but I think it’s going to continue because I think the Neighborhood Tourist and Development group knows that it’s worth it,” James said. “I don’t see that going away for a while. This is a good way for kids to celebrate Halloween.”