Here’s how Belleville turned into Booville for the month of October

By Rosemary K. Otzman
Independent Editor
Last October, volunteers were just finishing cleaning up after Harvest Fest on Fourth Street, between the museum and the library, when they noticed a big crowd on the Fourth Street Square, right across Main Street.
Rosemary Loria and Bill Wolters went over to the square and found people taking pictures of about 80 women dressed as witches inside and around Egan’s Irish Pub. They were socializing before getting on a party bus to take them to several other bars in the region.
Loria and Wolters have since related how the witches on the square got them to thinking that maybe the city of Belleville could expand its annual Halloween and Harvest Fest celebrations.
Loria brought it to the Belleville Downtown Development Authority, where she sits, and Wolters, who is president of the Belleville Central Business Community, bought it to the CBC membership.
The DDA agreed to participate and put extra decorating funds into the 2014 budget. The CBC jumped into the planning enthusiastically.
The DDA also encouraged its coordinator, Carol Thompson, to help shepherd the project along.
“The idea was hatched on how to celebrate the harvest and Halloween in Belleville,” Thompson said on Saturday, as she sat behind a booth at the city’s Harvest Fest recalling the beginning of Booville.
She said there were dozens of names suggested on what to call the celebration and “Booville” won. It was to run for the whole month of October.
In January and February, members of several local organizations started meeting together to come up with ideas for events.
It was meant to be for all three communities, but it turned out to be mainly a Belleville event this year.
Van Buren Township is holding its annual “Candy Loop” from 5 to 7 p.m. at Quirk Park and is getting in on the publicity for Booville.
“It seems like now is the right time for Booville,” Thompson said, adding some things just have to wait until the time is right.
“We copied the Harvest Fest organization, with all representatives overseeing their own organizations and everyone cooperating,” Thompson said.
“The DDA agreed early on to support the theme of Booville,” Thompson recalled. “It was agreed I could hold the information together.”
Thompson, who is responsible for posting events on the Community Events sign at High and Main streets is putting the Booville events on the sign and posting the information on the DDA website: www.buyitinbelleville.com/Boo-ville . She also has designed advertisements for the events.
After last summer was over, the organizations got together in September to put the final events together for this first year and they will be following up after the event to see how everything went.
She said they will keep going and see who can be involved next year. She said on Saturday the Girl Scouts asked to take part in next year’s Booville.
Thompson said the DDA has decorated the downtown for the season and the DDA paid for promotional magnets and the Booville ad in the Belleville High School football program.
Thompson said the Booville schedule shows separate organizations holding separate events and the groups all supporting each other and sharing.
“I just love everybody being a good partner,” Thompson said.
“It’s been a fun ride. I hope it keeps up now.”