Eye on the Hills: Montclair Railroad Trail to host new Halloween fun run
The Montclair Railroad Trail will be the site of the Oakland hills district’s first Halloween fun run on Oct. 27. Families who remember the longtime Halloween parade in Montclair Village will see a new event that doesn’t require street closures and seems tailor-made for the shaded trail.
“It’s in the trees, in the oaks, and it’s a little creepy,” says fun run coordinator Lena Jones. “It’s definitely a good setting for Halloween.”
Jones used to be the race director for the Oakland Marathon. Now she has her own production company, Big Huge Events (bighugeday.com), which organizes competitive events and works on corporate team building. She says the Montclair Railroad Trail is perfect for the costumed, family-friendly walk/run she has in mind.
“It’s just a 2-mile meander. I really want it to feel like a parade for the (Montclair) Village where we don’t have to close streets and close everything down,” she says.
Instead, Jones will have time to decorate the start and end point for the event — the tunnel in the back of the Montclair Parking Garage at 6235 La Salle Ave. It’s a drippy, echoing chamber that will be made even more ‘haunted’ with a few cobwebs and some spooky music.
Registration for the 9 a.m. event costs $22.20 per person and is free for children younger than 5 with the code KIDunder5. Part of the proceeds will go toward prizes for the event. Bikes and scooters are discouraged since this is a run/walk, but costumes are encouraged and all ages are welcome, including babies in strollers. Visit bit.ly/4ha6wQr online for registration and event details.
Candy grab: Also on Oct. 27, there’ll be more hubbub than usual at the Montclair Farmers’ Market. Costumed kids will get candy from many of the market vendors and Montclair Village businesses, and there’ll be live music in the Village Plaza (Antioch Court) from 10 a.m to 2 p.m. Free Halloween bags wil be given out courtesy of Flair Travel, Pelago, Ilan Penson and Marissa Verson Harrison from Red Oak Realty.
New business: Telling your life story has never been so easy or cinematic. Local entrepreneur Kenny Overcast is launching a company called Sentimental Cinema, producing high-quality videos for clients who want to tell their life stories.
“A legacy video is a short, personal documentary about someone’s life that highlights their stories, values and/or accomplishments,” says Overcast.
He says the idea formed when the COVID-19 pandemic kept his 87-year-old great aunt from getting to a life story-writing workshop. He packed up his audio equipment and headed for her home in Montana.
“The whole production process reawakened my belief that everybody deserves to tell their story (so that future generations can enjoy and learn from them),” says Overcast.
Sentimental Cinema curates the interview questions that bring out stories organically and helps interviewees feel relaxed. They use high-end audio and lighting, professional 4K video and editing techniques that help tell a concise and compelling story. For more information online and to see examples, visit sentimentalcinema.com.
Ginny Prior can be reached at ginnyprior@hotmail.com and followed on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Facebook and at ginnyprior.com.