By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Audriana Galbiati strolled down the sidewalk along 44th Street wearing a spine-chilling Halloween ensemble – a black dress with a white collar, black stockings and black shoes. Her dark hair was braided in pigtails.
Suddenly, someone started to sing the theme song from the Addams Family television and film series: “They’re creepy and they’re kooky … mysterious and spooky.”
The background music was perfectly appropriate for 5-year-old Audriana, who was portraying Wednesday, the Addams Family’s weird daughter known for draping herself completely in black, in shocking contrast to her pale skin.
“She wanted to be Wednesday,” a laughing Ashley Galbiati said her of daughter while emphasizing the word “wanted.”
“I like all of the characters,” Audriana added, referring to the entire wacky Addams Family.
Audriana toted around another member of the Addams Family, Cousin Itt, for company. In this case, a miniature Cousin Itt-lookalike doubled as a holder for all of the candy that Audriana scooped up as she made her rounds during Sea Isle City’s trick-or-tricking celebration on Halloween night.
The Galbiati family lives in Vineland, but has a summer home in Sea Isle on 40th Street. They chose to celebrate Halloween in Sea Isle. They had plenty of company.
By the time darkness rolled in, the streets of Sea Isle were taken over by ghosts, ghouls, goblins and many other costumed creatures during a chilly Halloween night that featured a special treat – a rare full moon falling on the same day as the holiday.
As the kids made their stops from house to house, they also saw bottles of hand sanitizer standing next to the candy displays, a grim reminder of the coronavirus pandemic.
This year, Sea Isle canceled its popular Halloween parade in response to the COVID-19 crisis, but trick-or-treating was allowed to continue amid safety precautions that included wearing protective face coverings.
Ashley Galbiati, who was accompanied by her husband, Mark, said Audriana was well aware of the safety protocols she had to follow to protect herself from the virus.
“She knows to keep six feet away from others, to wear a mask and to wash her hands. She knows all about that,” Ashley said.
Sea Isle resident Donna Hadfield, who lives on 44th Street, made sure to package all of her Halloween candy in individual bags to protect the children.
“I made bags, so nothing is loose. It’s much safer for the kids,” Hadfield said while she and her mother, Jennie, sat outside their house waiting for trick-or-treaters to stop by.
Normally, Hadfield lets the children inside her house to pick up their treats. Because of the COVID concerns, she placed her candy on a table in the driveway for this Halloween.
One of the Halloweeners who visited Hadfield’s home was Mary O’Donnell, a pint-sized, 4-year-old dressed as the Disney character Vampirina. Her costume included bat wings for her ears and a plastic pumpkin as her candy holder.
Asked what her favorite part of Halloween is, Mary exclaimed, “Candy! Candy corn!” Her parents, Erin and Philip O’Donnell, of Clermont, burst out laughing.
Sea Isle resident Tina Cummiskey, of 44th Street, created an elaborate Halloween display to entertain the children. Cummiskey had a beach-themed tableaux featuring a pumpkin head “surfer guy” who wore goofy glasses and had ears made out of old Sea Isle beach tags. A surfboard was transformed into a bikini-wearing “surfer girl” who was the object of surfer guy’s affection.
Cummiskey and her boyfriend, Gary Kester, have been residents of Sea Isle for 12 years, but this was the first time they celebrated Halloween in the resort.
“We were excited to do something for the kids,” Cummiskey said. “With this year, with COVID, it’s been tough on them.”
She got into the Halloween spirit by dressing as Minnie Mouse. Kester wasn’t wearing a costume, but joked that he was playing the part of the “big, scary old guy.”
Shortly after Sea Isle’s trick-or-treating hours began at 4 p.m., Cummiskey gazed down 44th Street hoping to see some Halloweeners heading her way. She was worried that the pandemic would discourage children from celebrating the holiday.
But before long, the sidewalks along 44th Street were filled with kids in their costumes, including one little girl who was dressed all in black and called herself Wednesday Addams.
