Returning for its 8th annual ‘Ghoul’s Night Out’ event gave kids and parents a double dose of Halloween fun, all while diversifying the city of Whitewater. 

“We came up with the idea for ‘Ghouls Night’ eight years ago because we wanted another event for the western side of Whitewater,” said Marie Koch, executive director for the Whitwater Chamber of Commerce. “We had the Farmer’s Market over on that side right around this time, but we wanted to add another event and have something else to do over there during the fall and Halloween.” 

The Thursday night event went from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. and included scarecrow stuffing, bounce houses, pumpkin bowling, costume makeup and trick or treating, which was 10-year-old Lilian’s favorite part of the event. 

“I’ve been coming here all eight years,” Lilian said. “I like getting candy and going to the group home to visit all the people there.” 

While the event is fun for kids like Lilian, the participating businesses find the event to be almost equally as enjoyable. 

“We’ve participated in this event for about four years now and we usually hand out candy and band-aids to the kids,” said Mercy Health x-ray technician Kasey Baldwin. “We really like taking part in this whole night and seeing all the kids in cute little costumes.”