With plenty of whipped cream to make things even messier, dozens of participants got pie on their faces this past weekend in Bucoda during the inaugural Boo-Coda Spook-Tacular Great Pumpkin Pie Eating Contest.
The theme of the day was All Things Pumpkin day, and attendees also got to take part in pumpkin races, a pavement chalk art contest and pumpkin decorating.
While the South Thurston County community has held its month-long Boo-Coda Spook-Tacular celebration for over a decade now, the pie eating contest was one of a number of new events added to the Halloween festivities this year.
Boo-Coda events still ongoing include free daily trick-or-treating from 5 to 8 p.m. at Joe’s Place, located at 118 S. Main St.
A ghoulish good time continues in the “world’s tiniest town with the biggest Halloween spirit” over the two final weekends in October, with remaining Boo-Coda Spook-Tacular events— like the famous casket races — including:
Saturday, Oct. 18, Boo-Coda Casket Race Day
• Ghost Hunting 101 Class, from 11 a.m. to noon, on the second floor of the Bucoda Community Center at 101 E. Seventh St. The class will be taught by Jake Rice of Ghostly Activities, who will give a brief ghost hunting history, talk about haunting types and tools of the trade along with discussing investigation basics, safety and ethics when it comes to visiting a haunted place in your area. Cost to attend is by donation.
• Haunted Vendor Market, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the lot in between Joe’s Place and Liberty Market on Main Street in Boo-Coda, free to attend.
• Casket Races, beginning at 1 p.m. on Main Street in front of Joe’s Place. Cost to enter is $100 per team if registered by Oct. 13, or $125 after Oct. 13, and teams can build their own caskets to race or use one provided. Teams must consist of four pallbearers pushing and one corpse to ride in the casket. For the full list of rules and casket building regulations and to register, visit https://tinyurl.com/mr3anw3m. The Casket Races are sponsored by BrightNight, and awards will be given to the fastest three caskets, the “dead last” finisher, the scariest casket, the funniest casket, the most original casket and the best costumed team and cortege.
• Costume contest, starting at 3:30 p.m. in the Bucoda Community Center, with cash prizes of $100, $50 and $25 for the top three costumes. The contest is free to participate in and open to all ages, but participants must register at the information booth in front of the community center.
Saturday, Oct. 25, Boo-Coda Family Fun Day
• Haunted Vendor Market, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the lot in between Joe’s Place and Liberty Market on Main Street in Boo-Coda, free to attend.
• Sick Boys Band concert, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Joe’s Place, free to attend.
• The Inflatable Costume Dash, starting at 1:30 p.m. in front of the Bucoda Community Center, free to enter. Racers are invited to wear inflatable costumes for a short race down Main Street with awards for the first place finishers in the age categories of 7 and under, 8 to 12, 13 to 17 and 18 and older.
• The Zombie Dash, starting at 2 p.m. in front of the Bucoda Community Center, free to enter. Racers are invited to don their best zombie costumes for a short race down Main Street with awards for the first place finishers in the age categories of 7 and under, 8 to 12, 13 to 17 and 18 and older.
• The Thrill the World Dance, at 3 p.m., when Boo-Coda will take part in the 19th annual world-wide simultaneous dance to Michael Jackson’s song “Thriller,” free to attend.
• Costume contest, starting at 3:30 p.m. in the Bucoda Community Center, with cash prizes of $100, $50 and $25 for the top three costumes. The contest is free to participate in and open to all ages, but participants must register at the information booth in front of the community center.
• Trunk or Treat Car Show, starting at 4 p.m. on Main Street in front of Joe’s Place. Participants must decorate their cars with a Halloween theme and check in at Joe’s Place by 3 p.m., along with being prepared to give candy out. Free to attend.
• Boo-Coda Ghost Hunting Tours, starting hourly at 7, 8 and 9 p.m. beginning at Joe’s Place. Check-in begins at 6:30 p.m., and attendees will be taken on a tour through five eerie stops throughout the town by three seasoned ghost hunters who will share Boo-Coda’s haunted history and local urban legends from the town’s old prison and other historic buildings.
For more information, visit Boo-Coda’s official website at https://bucoda.us/boo-coda or follow its Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BOOCODAWA.
