Stillwater Sunrise Rotary Club - Stillwater, Minnesota

Neither wind nor cold nor the dark of night stopped Bat Man.  He was first in line, 40 minutes early, for the Ninth Annual pre-Halloween Parade at Boutwells Landing.  Behind him were a vestibule full of kids and parents, waiting for seniors to assemble for the parade down Boutwells Main Street corridor.

Being early was old hat for Bat Man, who is Samar Benyahia, 5, of Stillwater.  He’d made this scene every year since he was two.   

But it was a first-time experience for Andrew Aitkin, 2, from Shoreview, as it was for many of the other 375 kids who, with 1,000 parents and grandparents, crowded past seniors stretched two ways down Main Street.  They did it in an hour and 15 minutes Wednesday evening.  Foul weather didn’t stop them.  In fact, it was an attraction -- a safe, warm place, inside, out of the wind and dark and spitting snow, where they could show off their costumes to admiring oldsters and receive candy, gum, crayons, coloring books, chalk and other goodies in return.

Supporting the trick-or-treaters and the Boutwells seniors was an army of Rotarians and family members, Boutwells staff, STRIVE students and youth volunteers from the local United Way.

Co-chairs Mark Fisher and Barbara Tischart of Stillwater Sunrise Rotary Club and Georgene Gray of Boutwells, the two sponsoring organizations, both declared this ninth year “another success,” even though numbers were down a bit due to the weather.

So did the Boutwells seniors, who turned out in Halloween costumes as varied as the kids.  About 70 seniors had been assigned chairs along the corridor.  But that didn’t include the many more, often in wheel chairs two lines deep, who came to watch and share in the joy of the kids.

So did Polio Plus, the Rotary International (RI) drive to eradicate polio around the world. 

The Halloween Parade kids donated $275 at the Polio Plus tables, just inside Boutwells main door, and got their pinkie little fingers painted purple, just as do children in foreign countries when they are inoculated.  The money, which came from seniors as well as kids, will be added to an annual contribution by Sunrise, which, like some 33,000 other clubs around the globe, is helping eliminate polio worldwide.  A fund of $200 million from RI, plus $355 million more from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is currently being used to immunize children in the last four countries where polio has not yet been controlled.

October 28, 2009

Hundreds of St. Croix Valley  youngsters take in Sunrise Rotary's 8th Annual Halloween Parade at Boutwells Landing

Another terrific event that involves multiple organization and generations.  Here are the stats:

• 453 kids
• 2x as many adults (parents and grandparents) walking with the trick-or-treaters
• 100+ Boutwells residents handing out treats
• 30+ Boutwells staff members
• 4 SAHS STRIVE members
• 4 teenagers from the United Way Youth group
• 40 SAHS Pep Band members lead by director Dennis Lindsay
• 25 Stillwater Sunrise Club members, their spouses and children
• Contributions from the Como Zoo, Cub Foods, First State Bank, Stillwater Motors and individuals from our club.
• Over 22,000 pieces of candy or treats handed out
• $700 collected for Rotary International's Polio Eradication Campaign
• Event began at 6pm and was over just after 7pm

Click on the link below if you are interested in sponsoring this wonderful event!

The 7th Annual Walmart Halloween Parade attracted over 500 children to Boutwells Landing Senior Living Center Wednesday evening where over 70 seniors handed out lots and lots of candy.  Walmart contributed the candy and Sunrise Rotarians made sure that the senior residents had plenty of treats for the kids.  In addition, the Stillwater H.S. Pep Band entertained the folks as they waiting in line on a beautiful fall evening.

Our club also raised several hundred dollars towards our $1,000 Polio Eradication pledge.

Thank you to Walmart, Stillwater Motors and First State Bank for their contributions.  We'd also like to thank the staff and residents of Boutwells Landing for participating.  And a special thank you to our club members, especially Mark Fisher for organizing this signature event.

Nearly 600 Halloween tricks-or-treaters marched through Boutwells Landing’s Town Square Monday evening October 29, 2007, to the tune of Stillwater High School’s increasingly popular Pep Band. They dropped 250 pounds of donated food into containers set up by Sunrise Rotary, and garnered at least that much candy in return.

Total number of costumed kids was 568 by actual clicker-count – 200 within the first 15 minutes.

Once inside the door, they were handed sacks of goodies by Wal-Mart and empty bags by Sunrise volunteers. They were then split into two lines and filed past 100-plus Boutwells seniors seated along corridor walls, who admired their Halloween costumes and filled their sacks with more candy and goodies.

They came from Stillwater, Lake Elmo, Bayport, Afton and all points between, making this Sixth Annual pre-Halloween one of the best ever, in the opinion of Sunrise Rotary members and Boutwells Landing staff, who co-sponsor the event. “Helping make it successful was strong support from donors,” said Ken McGinley, Sunrise president-elect, who chaired the preparation committee. He singled out Wal-Mart andStillwater Motors for their donations.

“Counting parents and grandparents who accompanied the 10-and-under kids, we estimate at least a thousand came through Boutwells main-floor corridor in slightly more than an hour,” continued McGinley. “Not bad for two nights before Halloween.”

The 250 pounds of non-perishable food items, requested by Sunrise as donations from the Halloween’ers, will go to the St. Croix Valley Food Shelf.