All treats, no tricks: Mt. Pleasant Halloween parade lacks notoriety from past year

Last year’s Halloween parade in Mt. Pleasant Borough brought the small community of 4,250 people plenty of publicity, but not in the way officials would have liked.

This year, organizers promised to be extra vigilant about parade participants to avoid a repeat appearance of a controversial entry like one last year that drew outrage over racist and political imagery.

Wednesday’s Mt. Pleasant parade was full of the usual ghouls and goblins, but no political statements.

Paul Harenchar, chief of the Mt. Pleasant Fire Department, which organizes the annual Halloween parade, said it intended this year to keep out any politically-themed entries.

Harenchar said, as in past years, entrants did not sign up in advance of Wednesday’s parade. But, he said, the department planned to have representatives on hand to monitor the people lining up to march in the event.

“No political stuff,” he said the afternoon before the parade. “Goblins, ghouls and ghosts — that’s what we want.

“I just hope nothing happens this year. We will check people out as they come through.”

That extra scrutiny comes after an entry in last year’s parade, at the height of the campaign season, appeared to depict then-Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris handcuffed and leashed to the back of a golf cart.

The Pittsburgh branch of the NAACP denounced last year’s parade entry as a symbol of racism and hatred.

Reacting at the time, Mt. Pleasant Mayor Diane Bailey, a Democrat, said the entry in the parade was disturbing and upsetting.

Bailey said Wednesday she wasn’t aware of any concerns in advance of this year’s Halloween parade.

“I’m sure they’ll be monitoring the people that are in the parade a little more diligently,” she said.

Messages conveyed by entries in Wednesday’s parade included suicide prevention and breast cancer awareness. Two local dance groups performed, along with the Mt. Pleasant Area High School Marching Band.

Many spectators were kept busy scooping up the plentiful candy tossed by parade participants.

Daisy Morales, who has lived in the town for five years and never misses the parade, was glad this year’s event steered clear of controversy.

“That didn’t happen this year, so that’s good,” she said after viewing Wednesday’s event. “Nothing political. It was just pure fun.

“Keep it fun for the kids. We always fill up with candy and help other kids get candy.”

Photos of last year’s Mt. Pleasant parade entry that were posted on social media showed what looked like a long gun sitting on a tripod on top of the roof of a golf cart. Two people were standing in the back of the golf cart, one of whom was dressed as then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. A sign in support of Trump hung on the front of the cart.

People wearing dark suits and sunglasses walked next to the cart, presumably costumed as Secret Service agents. Behind the cart was a person wearing a red pantsuit, who appeared to be depicting Harris. That person was handcuffed and tied to the back of the cart by a chain or rope.

A day after last year’s parade, the Mt. Pleasant Volunteer Fire Department issued an apology and indicated they had typically provided only safety and traffic control for the event that features a “first-come, first-served” lineup.

“We do not share in the values represented by those participants, and we understand how it may have hurt or offended members of our community,” the fire department’s statement said. “We are committed to learning from this experience and ensuring that our future events celebrate the diversity and spirit of our community in a positive way.”

Harenchar, Bailey and Mt. Pleasant police Chief George Grippo all confirmed that local officials were unable to pinpoint the individuals involved with the controversial parade entry last year.

“We were never able to identify them, so nothing was done.” said Bailey. “We never did get a definite name. Because we didn’t know for sure who it was, we didn’t pursue it any further.

“It was everybody pointing fingers at other people.”

Bailey said last year that masks and sunglasses worn by the participants in the parade entry made identification difficult.