Coffey Park families improvise for Halloween

Most people don’t associate tailgating with Halloween, but that’s essentially what went down in Coffey Park on Wednesday night, when several dozen families displaced a year ago by a wildfire came home to celebrate “trunk-or-treat.”

Decking out their cars and trucks with twinkly lights, jack-o’-lanterns, ghosts, skeletons and all things glowing, they joined friends and neighbors in what for many in the Santa Rosa neighborhood was a declaration that community traditions will live on - even if many of its residents remain dispersed.

“We wanted to get the kids back into Coffey Park,” said one of the organizers, Brian Bushon, whose son and daughter, 6 and 3 respectively, were among the trick-or-treaters.

Everyone wore costumes, adults and kids alike, and went all out to turn 11/2 blocks of still mostly barren lots into a festive party space colorfully lit by Halloween decorations as darkness fell.

A line of cars was parked along the curbs on both sides of a short stretch of Brandee Lane and a nearby cross street beginning where homes left untouched by the fire still stand. That way, Bushon said, the kids could trick-or-treat and trunk-or-treat in the same neighborhood. There was a smoke machine, music, a disco ball and lanterns.

“We used to have hundreds of kids here sometimes,” said longtime resident Jim Scally.

As Alex Oglesby helped her youngest son, Nolan, 6, into his inflated Stay Puft Marshmallow Man costume, her other son, Tyris, 9, tried to get the dry ice in the back of their camper to make more fog.

Oglesby said the fact that almost all of her neighbors survived the horrible morning of Oct. 9, 2017, when the fire swept through is a testament to the spirit of community that prevails there and is even stonger now. It was especially important this year for the youngsters to be back in the neighborhood for Halloween.

“Anything you can do to build community and have them see you doing it, and have them understand it’s not all lost,” Oglesby said. “Yes, we lost property, we lost things, but we didn’t lose our community.”

More than 1,300 homes in the northwest Santa Rosa neighborhood were destroyed by the fierce Tubbs fire last October, but Coffey Park has demonstrated remarkable resiliency, with many residents meeting regularly to observe progress, socialize and hold holiday events. Among the new traditions are weekly Wine Wednesdays, which provided the model for Halloween. And yes, there was wine this time, too, in addition to all kinds of candy.

“We’ve become experts at this,” Shelly Howe said. “We’ve served pizza from the back of a car, chips and salsa. When you don’t have a house, you use your car.”

As impressive as the display was at Coffey Park, over-the-top Halloween staging that each year turns Santa Rosa’s old McDonald Avenue into an amusement park again drew hundreds of revelers this year - several thousand, by some estimates - who filled the sidewalks and formed long lines at many of the stately homes.

Amplified music from a number of houses filled the air as costumed children and parents paraded past elaborate tableaus installed along the street.

Not to be outdone, the historic McDonald Mansion, also known as Mableton, offered visitors a glimpse into Cinderella’s world, complete with wicked stepsisters, ballroom dancers and a long stairway leading up to members of the royal family.

There was an opportunity to meet the maid-turned-princess herself and sit beside her in her lighted pumpkin carriage, as footmen stood by and two white steeds stood at the ready, their driver holding the reins. There was even a chance on the way out to try on a delicate glass slipper, though whose feet could be so small and slender wasn’t clear.

“It looks magical,” one young guest, Camila Rodriguez, 11, of Santa Rosa said after her visit. “It was like we were living a dream.”

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 707-521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MaryCallahanB.