A loud boat horn , the Ghostbusters theme song, and the 1960s hit-song Monster Mash were heard blaring over the St. Mary’s River by the shoreline residents of Pointe Aux Pins and Pointe Louise last night.
The ‘Halloween Boat’ was out.
For the last five years Mark and Mary Mageran have been decorating with their 35-foot Regal power boat — ‘Beauty and the Beast’ — with lights and Halloween decorations and then, as soon as it gets dark out, driving it along the shoreline for the local children, though the adults seem to like it as well.
They also bring friends along, and, while everyone is enjoying from the shoreline, the Magerans’ are having a pizza-party on their boat at the same time.
“It’s brought the community together. We like having fun,” said Mark Mageran.
“We’re kind of committed to doing it because the neighbours expect it now,” said the Magerans’ neighbour and friend Denis Ouellet, who rides in the boat.
Each year the couple spends hours decorating the boat and the endeavour has gotten more and more elaborate.
This was the first year they towed some inflatable figures — a ‘Minion’, and a ghost.
Mary Mageran said she hunted for decorations at stores in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. and Michigan.
“If people are having a hard time finding Halloween lights — they’re all here,” she said.
The mid-October boat ride serves as both a good-bye party to the boating season and a way of getting people warmed-up for Halloween itself.
Once the boat launched on Saturday evening, residents of the area were seen out in their backyards, sitting around campfires and standing on balconies, waiting for the boat to go by their homes.
“When we moved out here for years ago it was like, oh my god — this neighbourhood rocks,” said neighbour Carly Thomas.
Thomas had three kids at her home who sat on a second story balcony wrapped in comforters as the boat went by the home.
“I like it 'cause of the lights and stuff…and the Monster Mash,” said Karson, 4.
“I like Frankenstein cuz he’s the best,” said Karson’s cousin Emmett, also 4, and also a fan of the Monster Mash.
Just down the beach, grandparents Terry and Marlene Zuccato and their house guests paused their card-party to watch the Halloween Boat go by.
“It’s really good. It gets everyone in the Halloween Spirit We send pics to our grandchildren (in) Windsor,” said Marlene Zuccato.