A Balboa Halloween

Susan McCormack

If ever there was a place to be for Halloween, Balboa Island was it

Sunday night. Thousands of wise trick-or-treaters descended upon the

island, lured by the promise of elaborately decorated homes, bottomless

bowls of candy and, if they were lucky, cash.

“We’ve heard they’re supposed to be very generous here,” said Newport

Beach resident Josee Deslongchamps while keeping an eye on her

trick-or-treaters.

“Better candy, bigger candy,” said a frank Corona del Mar resident,

Ashley Schainuck, 15, summing up the reasons behind many pilgrimages to

Balboa Island.

Newport Beach resident Patti Powers said by 6:30 p.m., her daughter,

Taylor, 5, was gathering her second bag of treats.

Other trick-or-treaters got a bigger reward for traipsing through the

masses.

“At one house they got to pick from money,” said Deanne MacInnis, a

Balboa Island mother. “They were trying to find the quarters from the

pennies in this bowl. You know you’re on Balboa Island when you’re

digging for money.”

The hyper festivity and throngs of children are not accidents, said

residents.

“We plan for this weeks in advance,” said Jeff Goulding, a Balboa Island

resident, who said he’s heard that some of his neighbors on Bay Front

spend up to $400 on candy for the holiday. “We know that people are

busing their kids here.”

Longtime resident Kristi Tyler said that the waves of people navigating

around Balboa Island on Halloween night are harmless compared to other

days.

“We put up with a lot during the summer .... The fourth of July is

insane,” Tyler said. “This is entertaining and fun.”

As for feeling as if they’re on stage for the night, residents don’t seem

to mind having their patios trampled on and their windows peered into.

“Everybody’s living in a fishbowl,” Goulding said. “You sort of get used

to it.”

The well-lit home of North Bay Front resident Mary Ann Divizia was among

the hot spots, where party guests offered trick-or-treaters snack size

Hershey bars, Kit Kats, Milky Ways and more.

“I spend about $100 [on candy],” confessed Divizia, who was dressed as

“Dorothy” from The Wizard of Oz. “Each year it goes up.”

Divizia said the expenditure is well worth it. “They’re great kids and

very polite,” she said.

And what is the reward for the parents who bravely ushered their children

through the spectacle?

Katie Cogan and Rick Trombley, from Huntington Beach and Costa Mesa,

respectively, agreed there’s no place like Balboa for spending the

holidays.

“Everyone seems to be dressed up,” Cogan said.

“It’s very festive,” added Trombley. “I love the beautiful homes.”