Argo Monster Mash: A Halloween smash for Argo and surrounding communities

By Crystal McGough, Associate Editor

ARGO – The city of Argo held its first-ever Halloween festival, The Argo Monster Mash, on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022. With Argo having a population of approximately 4,400 people, both Mayor Betty Bradley and City Councilor Ann Brown said they were shocked at the turnout, which Argo’s police and fire departments determined to be nearly 1,000 people.

St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office booth (Photo credit Crystal McGough)

“I don’t think we could’ve asked for more,” said Brown, who was also in charge of the planning committee for the event. “Every employee of the city plus lots of citizens volunteered.”

This was the first major community event Argo has held in the 10 years that Brown and Bradley have been serving the city, they said. Both are hopeful to be able to make this an annual event.

“We just appreciate all the kids and all the parents and everybody who took their time to come out and support us in our first – really our first annual – event that we’ve held in the city,” Brown said. “We hope, because of their response, that this will encourage us to do more community projects.”

Brown said she has already been thinking of ways to improve the Monster Mash in the future, should the city be able to continue hosting it.

The idea for the Monster Mash arose after Mayor Bradley applied the city of Argo for a $3,900 tourism grant and got approved. Once plans began to form regarding how best to use the grant, businesses and individuals began contacting the city offering to help sponsor the event.

“Our sponsors just stepped up,” Brown said. “We didn’t approach any sponsors; they just came to us and wanted to be a part of it.

Official sponsors for the event include: Alabama Tourism Grant; Printcorp, who donated all of the printed supplies; Massey, Stotser & Nichols PC Attorneys, who donated $500; and Grant Crossing: Argo’s Newest Community developers, who donated $525 to fund balloon twisting and face painting by Starshine Faces.

Brown said she also wanted to give a special thanks to Margaret Elementary School and Springville Elementary School for allowing their teachers to hand out invitations to students.

“I think that was a huge part of our success, since we don’t have the schools in our community,” she said. “Those principals were very gracious in helping us.”

Springville High School’s Beta Club also played a large role in the success of the festival. Under the guidance of teacher sponsor Cynthia Higdon, Beta Club students Ella Mason, Ethan Blandamer, Brooks Wester and Abrigail Royal helped set up, operate and tear down carnival games for the event.

“It was a joy to work with them,” Brown said of the students. “One of the young ladies was telling me that they have to have volunteer hours, but she said it’s nice to do things that you enjoy doing – that you have fun doing – along with service projects and things like that. I’m hoping that we can get even more of them next year … that was really nice of them to come and help us.”

In addition to games, candy and inflatables, the city also provided the public with free hotdogs, popcorn, cotton candy and bottled waters.

Mayor Betty Bradley serving popcorn and guests (Photo credit Crystal McGough)

According to Mayor Betty Bradley, the turnout was so great that guests were still hanging out, enjoying their hotdogs and popcorn, an hour after the event was supposed to end.

“For the first one, I thought it really went well,” she said. “They had to start unplugging stuff at the end to get people to leave.”

The evening would have been impossible without the support of the city employees and community volunteers, Bradley said.

“The clerks, the police department, the fire department, our maintenance guy, the council – there was just so many people that helped,” she said. “Then we had some citizens that volunteered their time – Corky Massey and Carol Massey – there were just so many people … that helped with it.”

Bradley said she has already been contacted by businesses offering to help sponsor next year’s Monster Mash, and that’s what it’s going to take in order for the city to make this an annual event.

“I think it’s good business practice when people know that your businesses are also involved in the community,” she said. “It’s good advertisement for your business. I always try to go on our Facebook page and the What’s Happening (in Argo) page … I always go on there and try to thank everybody that participated.”

Any businesses or individuals who would like to be sponsors for next year’s event can call City Hall at (205) 352-2120 and ask to speak to Mayor Bradley.

Crystal McGough can be contacted at mcgoughcrystal@gmail.com