On Saturday, Oct. 24, the NW YMCA of Austin hosted the Spooktacular, an annual celebration for the whole family, held a week before Halloween on the YMCA premises. Because it rained this year however, it was the first time the event was held indoors. Nevertheless, several hundred of people still showed up at the celebration to try out the various YMCA activities as well as have a good time celebrating Halloween a week early.

“Volunteering at the Spooktacular for SkillsUSA was very interesting because it gave me a chance to help out my community,” Valika Chu ‘19 said.

About a hundred volunteers from Westwood’s SkillsUSA Club, the Advancement Via Individual Determination organization (AVID), and the Health Occupation Students of America (HOSA) attended the event. They helped families at the event with games, concessions, seating, and cleaning, as well as teaching people how to perform CPR from their training at Westwood.

“I enjoyed teaching young children how to do CPR at the Spooktacular [for HOSA] because it is important in case they ever need to react and help someone around them,” Yutika Raina ‘19 said.

The Spooktacular lasted from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m., and was full of costumed children getting their faces painted and stuffing their candy baskets full of sweets and trinkets from the booths advertising their wares. The YMCA provided food and drinks as well as a bounce-house and many games to play, and although the “Trick-or-Treat Trail” and pumpkin patch events had been cancelled due to the limited space, the event was still full of fall fun and festivity.

“I loved volunteering at the Spooktacular,” Ridha Mirza ‘19 said. “I learned a lot from this experience because I was able to cater to the needs of the people around me.”

Hopefully next year, the Spooktacular won’t be on a drizzly day. If you missed out on this event, though, make sure you find time to enjoy yourself on Halloween night!