Shortage of funds cancels Hudson's Halloween party

HUDSON – After a decade, organizers have been forced to cancel a popular Halloween party in Hudson.

Fright Night is a Halloween-themed party sponsored by C.H.I.P.S. – Children of Hudson Interacting with Police Services – for kids in middle school and younger. The party won’t be held this year because the C.H.I.P.S. committee wasn’t able to raise enough money, according to organizers.

The party has been held at the Hudson Community Center for more than 10 years and has been “an overwhelming success,” organizers said.

Lt. Robert Tousignant, who acted as the liaison between the committee and the police department, said the committee came up about $1,600 short of the $5,000 needed for the party.

Anywhere between 600 and 1,000 kids have attended previous Fright Nights, which were held a Friday or two before Halloween, he said.

“It’s a pretty big event. Some kids are going to be disappointed,” Tousignant said.

The hope is to raise enough money to hold a kids and cops event of some sort in the spring, organizers said.

Another Halloween-themed event has already been canceled this year. The Great American Downtown’s Great American Ghost Town has been called off because of safety concerns.

Executive Director Sue Butler said organizers of that event decided to “put it on hold” after an adult volunteer was almost hit by a car last year.

“What we wanted to do was just put the event on hold to give ourselves time to re-think it,” Butler said. “The biggest concern was safety. How do you keep thousands of kids safe on a very busy street?”

Thousands of kids in costume descended on 50 or so downtown businesses during the five previous Ghost Towns, according to the Great American Downtown’s Web site.

“It was a big event so it was a very hard decision to make,” Butler said.

Butler said she hopes to plan another Halloween- or October-themed kids event for next year.