Crown Point Community Library and City of Crown Point partner for another spooktacular Pumpkin Walk

The City of Crown Point’s Square transformed into a true monster mash for the city’s annual Pumpkin Walk on Saturday, October 25. The free event, hosted in partnership with the Crown Point Community Library, is a beloved annual tradition that offers families a way to celebrate Halloween fun in their local community.

The library has been a partner in the event since 2015. Director Julie Wendorf has been especially excited to see the event grow over the past decade, with, on average, over 2,300 ghosts and ghouls taking to the streets every year since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. 

“The first year that the library joined in on this event was in 201. I did it with a handful of volunteers in the lobby of the library, and we recorded just under 300 attendees. In the subsequent years, 2016 – 2018, we saw our first explosion of growth with over 1,700 visits to the library. Until 2020, the event was sponsored by the Lake Courthouse Foundation,” Wendorf said.

In 2021, the City of Crown Point took over responsibility for the Pumpkin Walk and the Library partnered to co-host the event, and that’s when the second explosion of growth happened in attendance. Both the Library and the City were able to use our reach into the community and our experience with community events to make the event even more special, and as a result, we started to get a lot more attendance,” Wendorf said. 

The Pumpkin Walk invites local businesses set up along Crown Point’s Square to pass out candy and provide family-friendly activities for trick-or-treaters to participate in. Visitors to the Library’s large front sidewalk could play Halloween games, win spooky prizes, and fill their candy buckets.

“We have several stations where we give out free coupons from area business restaurants, candy, handmade ghost bookmarks, and of course, we have our popular ducky game, too,” Wendorf said.

Over 40 local businesses and organizations participated in this year’s Pumpkin Walk, including those inside the historic Lake County Courthouse and the City of Crown Point on the courthouse lawn. 

The Pumpkin Walk has always been an example of Crown Point’s community-first atmosphere. The support provided by local businesses and organizations, like the library, attracts large crowds to the event, which in turn shines a spotlight on Crown Point’s business community.

“That’s the magic of Crown Point, when organizations like the Crown Point Library and the City create a partnership to collaborate on events, the result is something magical. The Pumpkin Walk is a great example of our combined efforts to create a unique event where the whole community comes out together, celebrating Halloween. We have the same type of partnership with the City of Crown Point for our Movie Nights with the Library, summer reading Stories in the Park series, both at Bulldog Park, as well as other seasonal events like the upcoming Tour of Lights,” Wendorf said. 

“The City of Crown Point is grateful for our strong partnership with the Crown Point Community Library. We love collaborating with Julie and her team to bring great events like the Pumpkin Walk to Crown Point,” said Mary Freda-Flores, City of Crown Point Communications Director. 

This year’s event saw its biggest crowd yet despite chilly temperatures. At the end of the day, Wendorf was just happy to see families enjoying themselves as they explored downtown Crown Point in their costumes.

“I love seeing the costumes that the little kids wear. I especially love it when you see a whole family dressed up in a theme together. One of my favorite parts of the day is taking pictures of all those great costumes and then sharing them on our social media. It’s been one of my favorite events since 2015,” she said.

Check out the library’s full calendar for even more family-friendly fun.

Learn more about the Crown Point Community Library at crownpointlibrary.org.