By: Gavin Schweiger, Follow South Jersey Community Journalist
BRIDGETON, NJ – On Saturday, October 25, the Cohanzick Zoo in Bridgeton hosted its annual free Boo! at the Zoo event where families could see the animals, go trick-or-treating and take part in a costume contest.
At 11 a.m., the zoo flooded with families and guests from a long line that winded around the parking lot. Many wore costumes, with classics such as Scream, and the latest editions such as K-Pop Demon Hunters.
Volunteers and partner organizations set up tables around the park to give out candy to trick-or-treaters or host activities such as face painting and sand art, while the animals watched from their enclosures.
The event was large, spanning the entire zoo and taking a lot of people to make it happen, according to John Medica, the Director of Recreation and Public Affairs for Bridgeton.
“We’ve been putting on this event year after year. So, we try to incrementally make it better each year to add some stuff and see what works versus what doesn’t work,” Medica said. “My staff is usually leading the charge on this.”
Along with the staff, volunteers and partners, the main sponsor for the event was South Jersey Eye Associates.
The main event was the costume contest, where many tried to win titles such as “scariest costume,” and “most original costume” among other categories.
A family, consisting of Sabrina and Brandon Holman, their baby Juliette, and Diane Burt, landed a couple of trophies from the contest wearing beekeeper and bee costumes. Juliette won “cutest costume,” and the family won “best group costume.”
Sabrina Holman crafted Juliette’s and her own bee costumes from felt and glued little plastic bees to Brandon Holman’s beekeeper costume.
“I always said if I ever had a kid, I was going to make their Halloween costumes,” Sabrina Holman said.
Even outside of the contest, some eventgoers, enjoyed doing Halloween activities and getting to see the zoo animals.
“We come here for the tigers quite frequently,” said Holly Miner, an eventgoer who went with her son, Chase.
Medica hopes to grow and add new activities to the event as each year goes by, listening to feedback from the community.
“We made sure to have a couple of face painting stations. That was a huge hit in the past.” Medica said.
At a recent event, they didn’t have face painting stations, which Medica said that “visitors made sure to tell me about it.”
People tended to enjoy this year’s Boo! at the Zoo, and according to Medica, one person told him that it was the “best one in a really long time.”
“That meant something because we are trying to incrementally improve the zoo and all components of it,” Medica said. “And this is a chance for the whole community and the county as a whole to come out and see what we’ve been doing.”
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