Monsters, convicts and even Jesus traveled to Court Street Saturday night to raise a ruckus - resulting in a few arrests and disputes.
Police said Halloween 2009 was uneventful, despite a couch fire on Palmer Street, and yielded about the same number of arrests as last year.
We had a good turnout and the crowd was fairly tame and safe
said Chris Withee of the Gallipolis Police Department.
The Athens Police Department received 50 service calls and 51 people were arrested, according to a news release. Police arrested 53 revelers last year. Officers sent 40 of those to the Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail. Southeastern Ohio Emergency Medical Services tended to about the same number of people as last year, with 45 runs compared to last year's 44.
Liquor enforcement agents also arrested 61 other people on Saturday and 51 on Friday night.
Our job is to make sure everybody is having fun and that one person's fun doesn't interfere with another's said Gallipolis Police Chief Clint Patterson.
And fun is what most Court Street characters had.
Seagram's Seven and Natty Light that's how we do it
said 23-year-old James Bourne, of Logan.
Other partiers had more of a plan.
With a memorized script, Kyle Livingston, an Ohio University senior, wowed the crowd as Ben Bailey and his Cash Cab.
Halloween is always a lot of fun but it's all dependent on the interaction between people
Livingston said.
During the night, Livingston asked trivia questions and handed out fake money to winners.
Local Halloween shenanigans attracted people from outside Ohio as well.
Bringing back a retro video game, Jason O'Shell, from Virginia, and friends dressed as the blocks from Tetris.
It's awesome. We (drove) five hours and it's everything we thought it would be
O'Shell said.
Even Jesus made the trek to the partygoer holy land and posed for a photo with a man dressed as Hitler.
People see me and automatically think Jesus
so it was kind of imperative when Halloween came around
Zach Pontzer, an OU sophomore, said.
Unlike the book Where's Waldo, spotting a Waldo on Court Street was fairly easy.
I've actually seen five (other Waldos) tonight
said a man who said he was from Ohio State University and that his name was Mat McHugh. His name could not be found in OSU's directory.
He said he was excited to find his storybook girlfriend, Wanda, perusing the party scene.
I've finally found her
he said. This is my first time at OU and I love it. It's amazing.
As the party settled down, Davey Neal, owner of Jack Neal Floral, said he thought attendance was down this year.
But Patterson said the number of people who pack the streets still shocks him.
From Gallipolis to Athens
it's a whole different world. You'd never see this kind of crowd in Gallipolis
