I come from a small town in Southern Illinois where it has been celebrated the last weekend in October NOT always on the 31st depending on when the 31st falls.It has changed somewhat over the years since the 1920's. For many years Trick or Treating has been on Friday, a kids parade on Saturday afternoon and a big parade with floats, bands, horses etc. Saturday evening. A fairly recent addition — several years — is a day long festival on Saturday. http://www.centraliahpff.org/ and also see https://centraliachamber.com/calendar/2019/10/26/93rd-centralia-halloween-parade-and-fall-festival
Here is an article from the local newspaper about the history that was written in 1967. https://newspaperarchive.com/centralia-evening-sentinel-oct-26-1967-p-17/
Scroll down for OCR of the article. It talks about the year that there was quite a delay because of a train. I was at the parade and the article does not go into the detail that it was caused by problem quite a ways further up the IC railroad line. They eventually broke the train apart to let the parade go through. Since then Route 51 has been divided into two one way streets through town and the parade has been moved to one of them from Broadway because Poplar does not cross the tracks.
When I was growing up and the evening parade was on Broadway the used car lot for the new car dealership that my day sold for was on Broadway. He would go through the used cars in stock a park the one with the best heater facing Broadway. We would either walk there or park elsewhere but sit in that car while waiting for the parade. One year one of my aunts was renting an apartment that had the living room looking out on Broadway and that was the most comfortable way of watching it I remember. Close was the year that the company I worked for had a party at the home of the main bosses daughter & her family that was on Poplar years later.
Here is an article from the local newspaper about the history that was written in 1967. https://newspaperarchive.com/centralia-evening-sentinel-oct-26-1967-p-17/
Scroll down for OCR of the article. It talks about the year that there was quite a delay because of a train. I was at the parade and the article does not go into the detail that it was caused by problem quite a ways further up the IC railroad line. They eventually broke the train apart to let the parade go through. Since then Route 51 has been divided into two one way streets through town and the parade has been moved to one of them from Broadway because Poplar does not cross the tracks.
When I was growing up and the evening parade was on Broadway the used car lot for the new car dealership that my day sold for was on Broadway. He would go through the used cars in stock a park the one with the best heater facing Broadway. We would either walk there or park elsewhere but sit in that car while waiting for the parade. One year one of my aunts was renting an apartment that had the living room looking out on Broadway and that was the most comfortable way of watching it I remember. Close was the year that the company I worked for had a party at the home of the main bosses daughter & her family that was on Poplar years later.
