This year’s 3rd annual Zombie Crawl, which will take place on Saturday, Oct. 20, will be a crawl with a twist as an estimated 2,500 brain eating, un-dead descend upon the village.
Police Chief Joseph Sinagra said his officers are looking forward to the event and will be closing Main and Partition streets to keep the zombies and residents safe.
Beginning at 5 p.m. Main Street from Market to Partition, and Partition to Russell Street will be closed to traffic, Sinagra said.
And, while the crawl is a fun event, it also has a more serious side, all those attending are asked to bring canned goods that will be donated to the Saugerties Food Pantry.
Jaimee Moxham, who grew up in Saugerties and is better known as Captain Cruella of the Carnivorous Cadavers, and the organizer of the event explained that “this is my hometown and we want to give back to it. After the floods last year, it just about cleaned out the food pantry and we want to give back to the community.”
Participants will also be asked to donate $2, the money will go to rebuilding the Small World Playground on Washington Street.
Food and cash donations can be made at the Zombie Crawl check in stations, which will be located near Mirabella’s on Partition Street, Reis parking lot on Main Street, and the parking lot adjacent to Dallas Hot Wieners on Main Street.
Check in will begin at 5:30 p.m., with the crawl taking place from 6 p.m. until 10 p.m. Those 21-years old and over will be given a wristband that will allow them to drink at the local bars and restaurants.
This year’s sponsor is the Village Apothecary on Market Street, co-owner Neal Smoller said the shop, which has been in business for six years want to give back to the community as well, and he believes that loosing 2,500 brain-eating zombies on unsuspecting villagers is the way to give back.
“Last year, we tried to give away a zombie cure to the participants and it didn’t work,” Smoller said, “so this year, working with the police, we feel the best way to deal with them is to coral them on Main and Partition streets.”
Originally Smoller and his fellow apothecariests felt the best way to deal with the Zombies was to kill them, but the owners of “Smiths Hardware wouldn’t give us the nail guns we asked for, so we will try and contain them in the main business district.”
Moxham said many of the village businesses, restaurants and shops will stay open for the event and have specials for the zombies.
The Cantine House of Terror will also be offering a shuttle bus to take participants to the haunted house at Cantine Field for tours.
During the evening there will be a costume contest, Moxham said it would be held at about 9:30 p.m. at a stage that will be located on Main Street.
“Come out, have a good fun time, dress up, or just come to watch, but please bring canned goods to help out the food pantry and donate $2 to help rebuild the Small World playground,” Moxham said.