On October 28, from 2 to 4 p.m. in Church Square Park, Hoboken Community Center’s second annual Howl-O-Ween event commenced. Hoboken Community Center (HCC) is a non-profit organization that has a food pantry, helps house low-income men, and gives the community affordable housing programs. This paws-itively awesome event raises money to help support the HCC and its programs. The event consisted of a dog costume contest, a parade, food trucks, and many other vendors to make it the perfect fall activity. With Halloween approaching, the contest sparked the holiday spirit in a time when fewer and fewer families are trick-or-treating. This year, about 245 dogs took part in the costume contest portion, with each entry costing fifteen dollars for early bird registration or twenty dollars at the door. The HCC was also able to raise money through sponsors such as Groomington Eats, Hoboken Business Alliance, Veterinary Emergency Group, Animal Infirmary of Hoboken, Camp Bow Wow, Mulligan’s Hoboken, and BondVet.
The dog costume contest featured nine categories: best in show, most creative, spookiest, funniest, most adorable, best duo, best family costume, best D.I.Y., and most New Jersey. Each contestant had a chance to win a range of prizes that had a 200 dollar value. The judges were a group of Hoboken legends including Jennifer Tripucka, founder of The Hoboken Girl blog, Peter Biancamano, host of The Pulse With Peter B, James Runkle, President of the Hoboken Business Association, and Mike Turner, retired battalion chief of Hoboken Fire Department. The costumes were adorable and creative, with celebrity couples like Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce being represented as well as popular movie references, like Weird Barbie, making an appearance. Some spooky costumes also fit the Halloween season, with dogs dressed as creepy spiders and the Scooby-Doo Mystery Machine. The competition was ruff, but the prize for most creative was won by a family of four dressed up as NERDS candy. The dogs donned adorable purple and pink sweaters and owners box costumes. The ‘Best Family’ award went to the Mario characters family, with the dog dressed as Mario and the family members dressed as Shy Guy, Princess Peach, Yoshi, and Bowser. The ‘Funniest’ award went to Sophia from the American sitcom The Golden Girls. Lastly, the ‘Most Adorable’ award went to a dog with a rat trap on it, representing the political circumstances in Hoboken with the City Council Elections happening earlier this year.
The large number of vendors was also a high point of this event, with anything from dog food trucks to gourmet brownies. Some of the participating vendors and non-profits were Vanilla Joe & Co., Doggy Dots, Supreme K9 Dog Training & Advocacy, The Local Thread, and Woofbowl. Hoboken Girl Scout Troop 12038 also participated in the festivities by hosting a pet donation table and collecting canned or pouch cat food, canned wet dog food, and rolls of pet waste bags. All together, this event helped humans and pets alike by raising money and collecting donations, and many Hoboken residents will look forward to its recurrence next year.. In order to donate goods, volunteer, or donate money to the HCC, please visit Hoboken Community Center’s website at https://hobokencc.org/.
