West Pelzer Celebrates Halloween with “Boo with the Blue”

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

On a cool Halloween evening in West Pelzer, the pumpkins glowed, the candy were bowls filled, and the town’s police officers stood at the heart of it all. 

The event was called “Boo with the Blue,” a new twist on the Upstate town’s familiar autumn celebration, designed to bring children face-to-face with those who watch over them, badges gleaming under the streetlights.

“West Pelzer has had a fall festival, Pumpkinpalooza, something for many years and we came back this year, revamped it a little, and focusing on our first responders, with Boo with the Blue,” said Town Clerk and Treasurer Paula Payton, as the evening crowd began to gather.

The idea, according to Police Chief Zachary Owen, was as much about reassurance as revelry. “We want to make sure that we put a good image out for the children so they won’t be scared to come to us if they have a problem,” he said.

By dusk, several hundred residents had turned out. Costumes fluttered down Main Street, a soundtrack of laughter mixed with music and the rustle of candy wrappers. In a season of ghosts and ghouls, West Pelzer found its own quiet magic in the simple act of neighbors meeting under the orange glow of porch lights.