And the rains came.

Despite a continuing cold rain which lasted most of the afternoon, the annual Bristol Police Department and Bristol Prevention Coalition Halloween Walkabout went off as scheduled Sunday afternoon along lower State Street.

It wasn’t the best situation, but those who braved the weather were still smiling from ear-to-ear.

No one could remember the last time that rain had fallen on this popular event, but that didn’t seem to dampen the adults and children who showed up. What did matter was that everyone still had a great time.

Under the circumstances, those who constructed this year’s Walkabout deserve a great deal of credit. Judging by the smiles on everyone’s face, Halloween was still a fan favorite.

Barbara Palumbo, Bristol Prevention Coalition Coordinator, said things ran pretty smoothly despite the unfavorable weather conditions.

As advertised, the Bristol Prevention Coalition teamed up with the Bristol Police Deptartment once again for the annual Bristol Merchants Association Walkabout.

“Bristol House of Pizza generously hosted our two organizations again,” said Palumbo. “Sgt. Michael Vieira helped to organize the event. The Prevention Coalition handed out more than 200 bags of fresh hot popcorn and around 50 pounds of candy. Proof that the rain cannot dampen our community’s spirit. Volunteers from the Prevention Coalition were Kerri Sousa and Rayona Clemens. The Bristol Police tent had characters for photo ops and handed out bags of goodies as well. The two organizations came together in 2020 to hold a walk through Trunk or Treat during the pandemic that was held at the police station. Last year, we joined forces with the BMA to make it one big event.”

She continued, “Fun Halloween music playing, laughing, singing and dancing with all the kids and families was so amazing, as were the creative costumes. We are always impressed. These are the types of events that we are so happy to be a part of. We are visible to the whole community and we are able to connect with the young people at a fun event. Sometimes it's nice to not have to be all business all the time. We are always happy to see multi-generation family trick or treaters. There are literally dozens of multi-generational families that come through. It's so Bristol.”

From the Bristol Police Department point of view, this year’s Walkabout was well worth all the time and effort that was put into its development and Sgt. Michael Vieira and other members of the department (including four new recruits) once again did their part to make it a success.

“I was able to raise funds from the Town of Bristol (via the Town Council), Bristol Elks Lodge and Knights of Columbus to pay for treats, characters, entertainment and traffic safety (detail police officer), because of those funds.” said Sgt. Vieira. “Tanya Costa from Vantage Point Reality organized the participation from the merchants via the Merchants Association.”

As one passerby who didn’t want to be identified, proudly exclaimed, “Only in Bristol could they pull something off on a day like this.”