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Partygoers watch a concert on Court Street at the Athens Halloween Block Party on October 31st, 2015. (OLIVER HAMLIN | FOR THE POST)

Halloween: Updates from Court Street

Hourly updates from the Halloween festivities,  Saturday.

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Check back throughout the evening to read updates from our reporters on Court Street.

2:31 a.m. update

A steady stream of rain continued to fall from the dark sky as Halloween festivities in Athens moved into their final hour — an extra hour, due to daylight savings.

Even though the streets were still blocked off, most of the remaining partygoers stuck to the sidewalk as the Athens Police Department made their final sweeps on horseback.

The bars remained open an extra hour due to the change in time, as did many of the dining establishments that usually remained in operation until three in the morning.

The weather appeared to dampen the festivities, but several emergency personnel claimed that this year was not much different from years past.

“We started doing runs earlier than usual,” Rick Callebs, chief of Athens County EMS, said. “We haven’t been overwhelmed. It usually trickles down at this hour.”

Athens Police Chief Tom Pyle confirmed that this time of the night was usually slow, regardless of weather.

“I’ve worked 28 Halloweens, and this is about usual,” Pyle said.

 

After daylight saving 1:18 a.m. update

The Athens Police Department arrested 20 people as of 1 a.m, and responded to 60 incidents calling for liquor control, Deputy Service-Safety Director Ron Lucas said.

Lucas said the thinning crowd, due to the rain that started later in the night, might have affected the number of incidents. Lucas added that there was a little “stretch of rowdiness” in the Mill Street area, and a few fights had to be broken up.

EMTs received 31 calls for service since the start of the block party, Assistant Athens County EMS Chief Amber Pyle said.

The rain scattered the crowd on Court Street, although a number of people said the rain wasn’t an issue.

Some party-goers had interesting tales to tell.

“I saw a guy punch a window out next to the jewelry store,” Nathan Meisner, a junior studying real estate, said.

 

1:40 a.m. update

At midnight, many partygoers were leaving the Palmer and Mill Street area as the police presence grew.

Six mounted police officers patrolled up and down Mill Street with a vehicle stationed on the corner of the intersection with four officers on foot.

At 114 Palmer St., students from Ohio Dominican University hung out underneath the porch to try to keep dry while figuring out what to do next.

Devin Salley, one of the visiting students, was dressed up as a condom.

“I mean I haven’t seen anyone else in my costumes, so I’m pretty proud of myself,” Salley said.

At least three industrial-sized lights were stationed along Mill Street to help students and visitors navigate.

Friends and OU students Andre Aouad and Austin Rehmar said they didn’t mind the rain too much.

“I’m just trying to socialize and have a good time,” Aouad, a junior studying finance and business, said.

Rehmar, an OU sophomore studying industrial engineering, wasn’t as excited about the festivities.

“I don’t like (Halloween) because there’s a bunch of random people,” Rehmar said.

 

1 a.m. update

The rain and wind began picking up after 11:30 p.m., but that didn’t deter many fest-goers from the block party.

Rick Callebs, Athens County EMS Chief said emergency calls have been at an increase this year, reaching 25 calls by 12 a.m.

Callebs said most of the calls were for intoxication and unconsciousness.

“It started earlier this year than it has in the past,” he said. “We started getting calls at 5 and 6.”

He said in previous years, the block party didn’t pick up until 7:30 p.m. or 8 p.m.

“This is as busy as we’ve seen Court Street,” he said.

Callebs said one of the thing that set this year’s block party apart from other years was that it extended further than just Court Street.

“We’re getting calls from Mill Street and off-campus housing,” he said.

Bill and Lynda Harris, a couple from Albany in their 40s, said they’ve been coming to Athens for the block party for about 20 years.

They were dressed as emoticons, with the words “LOL” and “TTYL” attached to their foreheads.

“We wanted to go as something hip this year,” Bill said. “We wanted to do something fresh.”

At 11 p.m., many people were leaving Mill Street to head back up to Court Street.

“It just too crowded down here,” said Aly Dettwiller, an OU sophomore studying biology pre-med. “We followed a random group and we knew no one at the party.”

At the bottom of the hill on Mill Street, however, partiers were still going strong on Palmer Street.

“This guy walked in front of the car, (the driver) beeped at him and then she hit him with the car while she was laughing. The guy just limped away,” Eli Biggs, a junior studying exercise science at the University of Cincinnati, said.

Biggs said the incident occurred in front of 3 Palmer St.

Logan Kirsch, a sophomore studying engineering at Purdue University, said he saw two people dressed up as retired wrestlers fake fight in front of 10 Palmer St. in the middle of the road.

“We told ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin he had to challenge Hulk Hogan and he held his belt over his head,” Kirsch said. “Then Hulk Hogan came over from across the road.” 

12 a.m. update

As of 10:58 p.m., Athens County Emergency Medical Service Chief Rick Callebs reported that EMS has treated 21 people so far, which was a five person increase from 10:30 p.m.

Several out-of-town students flocked to Athens for Halloween.

Dressed as Tarzan, Jeff Kelbach came from the University of Akron.

“I’ve had long hair and last year I was Jesus so I’m trying to switch it up so this year I thought Tarzan … it’s a little cold, but it works,” Kelbach said, adding that this was his was first time ever visiting Athens.

Sarah Miller, a student from the University of Dayton, was dressed as a flapper.

“I got my hair cut and it kind of reminded me of (a flapper),” Miller said.

Miller said her brother goes to OU so she came down to visit him.

“It’s really exciting,” Miller said. “I like how (the block party) is a huge group. It’s not just random houses.”

Cory Hatmer, a senior from the University of Toledo studying mechanical engineering, arrived on Mill Street with his friend Kurt McKee, a senior studying business also from Toledo. The two coordinated their “bad grandpa” costumes for the festivities.

“Some guy over there snorted coke off some girl’s ass,” McKee said. “We’ve been here a lot of hours. He stole pizza rolls out of some guy’s house. I saw a guy do a keg stand and throw up as he was doing the keg stand. It was cool.”

Devin Bradford, a student at Tiffin University, complained about the lack of variety in costumes.

“You know how like, you’re not supposed to find Where’s Waldo?” Bradford said. Well I’ve seen like twenty of them … that’s the craziest thing I’ve seen tonight.”

A minor was cuffed at about 10:30 p.m. on Mill Street and was loaded into a van. The minor was arrested for underage drinking and possession of illegal drugs, an officer from Lancaster said.

“We’ve been steady, though it’s mostly just minors right now.” the officer said. “We could probably do about everybody, but it’s not possible to arrest everybody.”

Micah Jones, an OU junior and one of many students dressed as Waldo, chose to watch the action from the comfort of his front porch on Mill Street.

“I saw a guy get arrested over there (on Mill Street), and some guy was trying to rough up the cops.” Jones said.

 

11 p.m. update

As of about 9 p.m. three people have been arrested, APD Officer David Malawista said.

“There was a fight earlier.. between four pigs…and some prison guards.” Trevor Newland, a resident of Belle Center, said.

Also, dodgeball game broke out in the middle of Court Street between characters from the film Dodgeball and other random people on the street.

Chuck Devny, a resident of Euclid rode down Court Street on a segway.

He said the craziest thing he’s seen tonight is, “a horse taking a dump.”

Quinn Malone, from North Unsted, described his costume choice.

“I’m just riding in a box, Cocaine Charles is carrying me around,” Malone said.

Jessica McKinney, from Columbus, was dressed as Cindy Lou Who and was accompanied by the Grinch. She said that her birthday is a couple days before Halloween and she celebrates every year at OU.

Paige Penwell, a junior studying nursing at Wright State University, came down with two of her friends. She said the best costume she’s seen is her own. She went as the energizer bunny.

Toine Johnson, a sophomore at Michigan State University studying nursing, said his costume is “alot.”

“I’m pretty messed up,” he said.

Meagan McMillen, a resident of Louisville, Kentucky, said she has found the block party very interesting.

“I loved the parade we had on the main street,” she said.

Madison Shipley, a senior studying economics at Northern Kentucky University, said he is with his best friend. He added that he got kicked out of someone's house.

“Some guy just kicked me out of his house because he said I peed, but I didn’t pee.”

 

9:40 p.m. update

Costumes ranging from Jesus with a wine bottle to a few running squirrels took over Mill Street.

“It’s an inside joke with me and my friends,” Zach Logsdon, a OU freshman studying meteorology, said. “I’ve taken four pictures with people so far.”

Some party-goers took a break from the night’s activities to sit on their porch and eat a bowl of macaroni and cheese.

“Everyone’s costumes are really funny this year,” Mallory McManus, an OU junior studying early childhood education, said as she ate her macaroni.

Partiers on Palmer Street watched someone dressed as Tiger Woods putt a golf ball into a crowd of horse cops, who also watched the mini golf tournament.

“There’s a lot of crazy costumes this year,” Kelley Stehura, an undecided OU freshman said, pointing to Tiger Woods golfing.

Over by Court Street, others were enjoying the festivities.  

“We heard about all the hype of Halloween in Athens from friends of ours that come here every year, and we decided we wanted to be part of the fun,” Steve Grandstaff, who is from Coshocton, said.

Some students decided to take the opportunity to comedically dress up to get a laugh.

“I am dressed as the scariest thing you could ever imagine: student loans,” Ellen Frescoln, a graduate student studying communication sciences and disorders, said.

Celia Summers, an employee of Mountain Laurel Gifts, said she’s one of the founders for the original Athens Halloween Block Party started by the Ohio University class of 1974.

“We embrace Halloween, as city dwellers and as business owners,” Summers said.

Some took a biblical approach for the Athens Halloween Block Party.

Josh Butcher and David Wilheim were among several “fishing for souls” in the intersection of Court and Washington streets.

“We are declaring about Jesus and telling people what they are missing in life,” said Butcher.

 

9:20 p.m. update

Parties at Mill and Palmer streets were well underway at about 7 p.m., with some party-goers already displaying drunken behavior.

“I saw Ronald McDonald chug a couple beers. That’s probably the craziest thing I’ve seen,” Jacob Baughman, who's from Reynoldsburg, said.

Aly Griffin, an OU undecided freshman, said she’d seen several drunk people, and that some of them were rather disruptive.

“They were playing beer pong really recklessly, and they kept bumping into me,” Aly Griffin said.

The rowdy activities didn’t stop Griffin from having a good time.

“It’s amazing,” Griffin said. “Just the fact that I’m meeting so many people. So many people are out.”

For Jimmy Devitt, who saw a guy vomiting and urinating at the same time in an alleyway, the Halloween festivities weren’t exactly what he expected.

“There’s a lot more house parties than I expected, and a lot more police,” Devitt, an Ohio State University junior studying marketing systems management, said.

Tyler Carcioppolo, a Hiram College student studying accounting who came “to see a couple buddies,” said he had the opposite reaction.

“I was expecting more house parties,” Carcioppolo said.

 

8:30 p.m. update

The early hours of the Halloween Block Party still had a growing crowd, and many different costumes to observe.

“I’ve seen a lot of Star Wars costumes,” visitor Marianne Ickes said, which she attributed to the new film coming out in December. “I’ve seen at least 15.”

Couple’s costumes were also abundant on Court Street, including OU sophomores Tyler Lee and Marissa Boros, who were dressed as Peter Pan and Tinkerbell. Lee, who is studying psychology, said his costume was the best he’s seen all night.

“It’s pretty much just awesome,” he said.

“It was my idea,” Boros, who is studying special education, said.

Younger children were still visible in costume on Court Street with their parents as of 8 p.m., as were several onlookers who stayed after the Honey for the Heart parade, which took place prior to the Block Party.

Athens County Emergency Medical Service said there had only been one call for service since they set up, as of 7:45 p.m., but they expect that number to rise. EMS headquarters is set up between the Athens City Building and People’s Bank.

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