CAMDEN — Camden’s Pearl Street is a popular destination for Halloween revelers, and according to longtime residents, it always has been. Residents report counting as many as 1,200 trick-or-treaters annually, especially since approximately 10 years ago when the police department began shutting the mile-long street to vehicle traffic for several hours during the much anticipated evening of October 31.
Jane Lafleur lives at the corner of Pearl and Free streets. She said that when she moved to Camden from Auburn nearly two decades ago she and her family wondered how many Halloween visitors they would have compared to their previous home city.
In Auburn they typically saw about 200 trick-or-treaters each Halloween, Lafleur said.
“I bought a clicker and started counting the kids, it was 400 the first year, then 600. It just kept going up,” she said. In 2017, Lafleur said that she handed out more than 1,100 pieces of candy — just one per child.
Residents recall that the street has always been a popular destination, with its sidewalks and inviting homes; however, removing the vehicular element was immensely important said Lafleur.
“It made a difference,” she said. “It created a safe haven. I’ve even talked to some people who even booked hotel rooms because they wanted kids to experience an old fashioned trick-or-treat experience."
Lori and Chris Van Dusen also live on Pearl Street and have been among the organizers of the candy drive, which was initially the brainchild of a Warren resident, Jennifer Molloy who said she observed the traffic on Pearl Street when she took her children trick-or-treating in 2009. It was that year that she asked residents if donations would be helpful, the answer was a resounding yes.
Molloy added that she lived on a “sleepy street in Warren” and would return from trick-or-treating on Pearl Street to find the candy at her home barely touched.
The following year, she said she “scoured the phone book” for Pearl Street residents. She picked up the phone and asked if they could use assistance in gathering candy to augment what they had to purchase to keep up with the trick-or-treat traffic on Halloween. The gesture was warmly embraced.
“It was really about gratitude,” wrote Molloy, who is now a resident of Saco. She added that feeling “welcome to hop towns” was part of the inspiration behind catalyzing a way to support the residents of Pearl Street and the burgeoning regional event.
The candy drive has since become integral to assisting residents in keeping up with the costumed traffic without breaking the bank.
Like Lafleur, the Van Dusen’s children are grown; however, they continue to enjoy the annual onslaught. Lori Van Dusen said that once the street became car-free for the evening, Pearl Street, “became very friendly to Trick or Treaters.”
She said some inns started selling packages for stays, billing Pearl Street’s Halloween as an attraction.
She and neighbor Pam Elliot continued the efforts to collect donated candy for the destination event. Collection sites have previously been set up at various local businesses, and there is currently one at Clean Bee Laundry on Elm Street.
"It was really nice to feel like the community supported it," she said.
The Van Dusens said they usually get about 1,000 trick-or-treaters. Lori said she bases her count on the approximate amount of candy she has on hand to give out.
Like other residents, the Van Dusens implement a one-piece-per-kid limit on candy.
"If they mention my books, they get an extra piece of candy," children’s book author/illustrator Chris Van Dusen joked.
"It's a fun night, we end up having a lot of friends over. Everyone loves the kids,” said Lori. "The kids are so polite, the costumes are creative.”
“The kids really make the night," Chris added.
Lafleur approximated that one household could easily spend over $100 on candy to accommodate the crowds.
Lori Van Dusen and neighbor Janet Halsey have continued the tradition of rounding up the donated candy, divvying the community-contributed sweets into bags that neighbors could pick up from either of their front porches.
Halsey said she was not able to estimate how many pieces of candy each of the donated, sorted bags typically contained, “it depends on what is donated.” She said.
She added that she will begin picking up donations at Clean Bee Laundry the week of October 22, and will probably return two or three times to collect during the week leading up to Halloween.
In 2017, Bangor Savings Bank delivered bags of candy to each residence on Pearl Street. In past years, neighbors said that various businesses — including a local dentist — have contributed to the festivities.
Lafleur and Halsey both explained that when houses are not occupied, they try to get permission from homeowners to station someone on their stoop so that trick-or-treaters don’t pass many dark houses during the night.
Neighbors said most residents on the street participate, however many, including Halsey, buy a set amount of candy and hand it out until it’s gone, regardless of the time. She said she typically buys about 800 pieces and has trick-or-treat traffic nonstop from about 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
“Sometimes I look out and have about 50 kids lined up,” she said with a smile.
She added that she is increasingly impressed by how polite the Halloween-goers are. She said she dresses up each year in a costume that is “either silly or scary.”
“I am always impressed by the children’s behavior, their manners and consideration for each other. They’re always, always saying thank you.” She said.
Several years ago Kea Tesseyman from Kinetic Energy Alive dance studio began doing a group dance to Michael Jackson’s Thriller in the middle of the evening. Last year, even members of the Camden Fire Department joined in.
"There are times when I go out and walk up and down the street and take a break, it reminds me of Times Square,” Lori Van Dusen said.
Independently, Halsey remarked that the crowds during Pearl Street Halloween are akin to “Broadway on a Saturday afternoon.”
Halsey said that she is even impressed by the lack of detritus in the street following the busy evening. Repeating her statement about how considerate both parents and children are.
“I feel very proud to live in a community where we have such a safe place to do this,” she said. In her three decades on Pearl Street, she said that she has always observed large crowds. Her grown daughter calls her for updates on Halloween, sharing reports about the hometown tradition with her friends and colleagues in Boston.
Lafleur said that she has observed ebbs and flows in the neighborhood, and many young families moving in during recent years.
"It's just gone crazy, we really appreciate the donations," she said. “They make a huge difference"
As word has spread over the years about Pearl Street, donations come in from diverse places, said Lafleur.
She recalled parents that bring bags of unopened candy to replenish Pearl Street residents. “I’ve seen kids take candy as parents reach over them to give us bags.” She added that her husband’s colleagues give bags of candy to support the tradition.
"It's a lot of money, most of us, we just love it. We love to see the kids, we love to see the creative costumes. People just embrace it."
Donations of unopened bags of all types of wrapped candy can be delivered to Clean Bee Laundry in Camden. American Legion Post 30 offers their lot at the corner of Pearl Street and John Street for trick-or-treat parking.
