Dressing as a bumblebee last year and a mouse the previous year, Megan Galbreth wasn’t able to capture any prizes from the Seymour Evening Lions Club’s annual Halloween costume contest.
But going as Dorothy from the classic movie “The Wizard of Oz” for this year’s contest, conducted Monday night in the American Legion Post 89 parking lot, proved to be the winning costume. She not only won the age 3-4 category, but she also claimed the sweepstakes round, which involved all nine category winners.
Megan wore Dorothy’s signature checkered blue-and-white dress and sparkly red shoes, donned a wig with pigtails and carried a stuffed animal dog, similar to Dorothy’s Toto, in a basket.
While her father, B.J. Galbreth, said the shoes were a popular part of the ensemble, her mother, Kylie Galbreth, said the win came down to the 3-year-old’s personality.
“I was talking to one of the judges, and he said they were going for the peacock, and then Megan turned around and gave them her sweet smile, and he said, ‘Hands down, it’s Dorothy,’” Kylie Galbreth said.
Megan and her parents were excited about the wins because they had thought about not competing.
“(B.J.’s) comment was, ‘Do we really want to go down? Do you think she’ll even win?’” Kylie Galbreth said.
Given that Megan won two prizes, it wound up being a good decision to participate in the contest.
“There were a lot of really cool costumes in there. I’m really shocked that she won,” B.J. Galbreth said.
“It’s cool,” Kylie Galbreth added about her daughter winning overall. “We’ll be back next year.”
The family planned on using Megan’s winnings to eat dinner. Her choice, being a 3-year-old, of course was McDonald’s.
Then Saturday, the family plans to go trick-or-treating in the city, with Megan wearing her award-winning costume.
“She’s got three friends that are slated to be the lion, the tin man and the scarecrow,” B.J. Galbreth said, referring to other notable characters in the movie.
Along with the costume contest, the Seymour Evening Lions Club had its 49th annual parade, which was led by the Seymour High School Marching Owls playing a variety of songs and followed by people of all ages dressed in Halloween costumes.
Monday’s events started with Seymour Main Street’s Downtown Trick-or-Treat, where businesses and organizations handed out candy, books, pencils, coloring books, glow sticks, ice cream and other items.
Mexico Chiquito at 111 S. Chestnut St. has participated in the downtown event all nine years.
“We’ve been here in the downtown for almost 10 years, and we like to participate in everything we can do,” Rafael Marquez said as he handed out Mexican candy.
He said the candy is unique because most children haven’t tried it before.
“We have our providers that we buy the special Mexican candy from,” he said. “It’s good so those kids will know what kind of candy we have (in the store).”
Marquez said it’s nice Seymour has a trick-or-treat event that draws people downtown.
“I like to see the kids dressing up,” he said. “I like Halloween. Every year, I take my daughter to trick-or-treat, and I dress up.”
Across the street, Veronica Schneider and Kendyl Lewis handed out suckers at Prestigious Affairs, 108 S. Chestnut St. They were dressed as Tracy Turnblad and Penny Pingleton from the musical “Hairspray” and had music from that show playing.
“This is the first year I got to dress up because nobody else wanted to do it,” Schneider said of handing out candy at the store for the third year.
This was Lewis’ first year handing out candy, and she said she liked the children’s costumes.
Schneider, however, said her favorite part was seeing the adults dress up.
“Just watching their costumes, what they dress up as,” she said. “The best one has been the cow. It was hilarious.”
At Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie 655 at Ewing and Second streets, children were drawn to Ellis McCormick, who was dressed as YoYo the clown as he passed out fruity candy. Decked out with a bright red wig, makeup on his face, a red and yellow striped shirt, a vest and pants with images of yo-yos, white gloves, knee-high yellow socks and black shoes, McCormick received a variety of reactions.
“Some kids are kind of nervous coming up to me, but there are some of them that want pictures with me. So it’s nice to deal with the kids,” he said.
McCormick has been a clown with the Murat Shrine of Indianapolis since 1994.
“We have a Shrine circus up there, and we perform in the circus. They’ll give us an act or two in the circus,” he said. “It’s real rewarding to be a clown, taking care of the kids, and we make money for the Shriners Hospitals, too.”
McCormick has been a member of the Eagles for three years, and this was his first time dressing up as YoYo and handing out candy.
“I think it’s great that they have an outing like this,” he said. “It’s nice to see the people and visit with the kids. Some of them you know, some of them you don’t, but it’s still kids, and they are having fun out here. It’s great.”
The Galbreths took part in Downtown Trick-or-Treat before heading to the costume contest, and they said all of the Halloween activities were good for families.
“I think it’s a good event, especially that it’s free and anybody can join in on it. It’s a good time,” Kylie Galbreth said.
“We live downtown, and we like things coming downtown,” B.J. Galbreth said. “It’s really good for the community. It’s good for the businesses. It’s good for everybody.”
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Winners from the 49th annual Seymour Evening Lions Club Halloween Costume Contest
Age 2 and under: Jocelyn Babbs dressed as a cupcake
Ages 3-4: Megan Galbreth dressed as Dorothy from “The Wizard of Oz”
Ages 5-6: Avery Williams dressed as Mary holding Baby Jesus
Ages 7-9: Alexis Leeper dressed as a peacock
Ages 10-13: Titus Boyd dressed as a rocket man
Ages 14-19: Keali Mills dressed as a sleeping zombie
Age 20 and over: Jamie Tatlock dressed as a sugar doll
Best group of three or more: Dustin Weddle, Crystal Schuerman, Shadd Hargett, Greta Terry, Michele Schuerman and Destiny Weddle dressed as pirates
Best pet: Dogs dressed as Siegfried and Roy
Sweepstakes: Megan Galbreth dressed as Dorothy from “The Wizard of Oz”
Best Seymour High School band members: Brayan Morales dressed as a mariachi; Dusty Wetzel dressed as a dustball; and Courtney Mansfield and Abi Downey dressed as salt and pepper shakers
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Trick-or-treating in the Jackson County communities of Brownstown, Crothersville, Seymour and Medora runs from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday.
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