For Halloween, it's destination Durkee

Buzz Lightyear (Dawson Fletcher, left) and a diminutive dragon (Lilly Logsdon) sifted through treats at the annual Durkee Halloween festival Saturday.

By LISA BRITTON
For the Baker City Herald

DURKEE — Andrea Gallagher loves Halloween.

“My most favorite holiday,” she says.

And she makes sure everyone knows it.

“I get into it — I drive around with (fake) body parts hanging out of my car all month long,” she says. “I get honks and waves.”

Gallagher lives in Durkee, and for the past five years she has been the lead organizer for the community’s annual Halloween party, held the last Saturday of October.

No one can remember when this tradition started.

With about a dozen children in Durkee spread out across 10 miles in the valley, the community comes together to celebrate the holiday.

“Trick-or-treating would take all day,” Gallagher said.

The local community comes, as well as families from Baker City, Huntington and sometimes La Grande.

“That’s what I aim for — the kids are growing up fast out here,” she said.

Everyone gathers at the community hall, the original 99-year-old Durkee School.

First comes the Creepy Kitchen with “mummy dogs” (hotdogs wrapped in a roll), chili, pizza, cupcakes and a red gelatin concoction made to look like a heart and brain.

“That’s what I made,” Gallagher chuckled.

With full bellies it was time for the superheroes, zombies, princesses, dragons and monster trucks to hit the games in the gymnasium.

And try to win some baked treats at the Creepy Cakewalk, done to such hits as “The Monster Mash” and “Ghostbusters.”

Game stations were set up around the gym, making it easy for parents to keep an eye on their little ones who rush from place to place.

“It is the most fun, safe place to bring your kids,” Gallagher said.

After the cakewalk comes judging for the best carved pumpkin and best costumes, and then the crowd gathered around a racetrack.

Yep — they have pumpkin races in Durkee.

“We always have a haunted graveyard, so we stuck a race track in the middle,” Gallagher said.

Kids bring their best (fastest?) specimens, which are mounted on a skateboard (nails keep the squash secure).

The last party-goer left about 8:30 p.m., and the organizers worked until 9:30 p.m.

“We had to clean up the kitchen because they have Bible study in there,” Gallagher said.

The community hall is this town’s central spot where people meet for reunions, weddings, funerals, Bible studies and more.

The upkeep is funded by the people, who pay $10 per person or $20 per family each year.

“Basically the community owns the building,” Gallagher said.

Come December, the hall is used to rehearse for the Christmas program — the children choose a song, which they sing for the holiday gathering that also features crafts to make ornaments.

“It’s really a good time,” Gallagher said.

All this relies on volunteers and donations — but that’s just how this town works.

“We try to stick together,” she said.