With Sun Devil Stadium glowing nearby for the Homecoming football game, six local residents spent Saturday night paddling east down Tempe Town Lake.
“I really love the evening, the water’s almost always perfect around here,” said Tempe boating assistant Ryan Allison, who led the group.
The early evening excursion, part of the lake’s Halloween Moonlight Kayak program, was one of the many ways Tempe families spent a weekend filled with spooky decorations and creepy costumes.
Storyteller Lane Gnieting joined the kayaking group to tell a few scary tales on the dark lake.
Gnieting, who is also an interdisciplinary studies professor at ASU, said he has been telling stories on the side for 13 years.
“The stories, especially from our childhood, they burn their impressions into us, and if they’re not regurgitated and given to others, they burn away and vanish into smoke,” Gnieting said.
Gnieting performed two stories amidst the circle of bobbing kayaks beneath the Loop 202 overpass. He said both tales, “The Devil’s Bridge” and “The Hell-Bound Train,” originated in Wales.
The first depicted an old woman who made a pact with the devil to build a bridge for the price of the first soul to cross it. The second was a poem originating from cowboy literature and involved a cowboy’s dream of riding the devil’s train.
“If you look around, you may find a devilish figure among us,” Gnieting said ominously after his performance, eliciting a few nervous laughs.
Mesa resident Christine Le said though the stories weren’t very scary, Gnieting’s emotional telling was engaging.
Le and her boyfriend, ASU alumnus Eric Chavez, chose to go kayaking before heading to a Halloween party. While it was Chavez’s first time kayaking, Le said she has paddled at Tempe Town Lake for special holiday events.
“It’s really fun, pretty low key,” Le said.
Allison said the event is held almost every year, though this is the first time a storyteller has come along.
Tempe’s next Moonlight Kayak will be held on Veterans Day, Nov. 11. The cost is typically $30 and registration is required beforehand.
About five miles to the south earlier that evening, local organizations and businesses set up booths for the 34th annual Family Halloween Carnival at Kiwanis Park. Hundreds of local residents participated in activities ranging from games to face painting.
Tempe resident Anna Swahn, 24, brought her 4-year-old daughter Kendra Swahn dressed as Minnie Mouse.
Kendra Swahn participated in the “punkin’ putting” booth, a single hole for children to practice golf.
“I think it’s cute,” Anna Swahn said. “(Kendra) likes it. So, that’s all that matters.”
Parents and children also gathered at the Sea Life Arizona booth to have their pictures taken with a shark mascot. Sea Life Arizona is an aquarium located at Arizona Mills mall.
Aquarium marketing manager Kelly Schwartz ran the booth.
“We’re just having a good time being involved with the community,” Schwartz said.
A free birthday party for one child and 10 of his or her friends at the aquarium was raffled off at the carnival.
“It’s just a really fun prize we’re giving away,” Schwartz said.
Tempe resident Sean Kenney, 42, brought his two daughters Sara Kenney, who was a princess, and Elle Kenney, who was a fairy.
Sean Kenney and his family have been attending the carnival for the last three years.
“The kids love it,” he said. “It’s just a fun community event. Our girls like the train rides and the face painting so far the best.”
Reach the reporters at ryan.mccullough@asu.edu and sksmith9@asu.edu
Click here to subscribe to the daily State Press newsletter.
