Caped cutie cops costume honors at Milo-Grogan Halloween party

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Caped cutie cops costume honors at Milo-Grogan Halloween party

By Felix Hoover

For Your News Columbus

Oct. 30, 2010

One of the tiniest super heroines at one of the city’s small recreation centers showed her might in winning the Halloween costume competition at Milo-Grogan Recreation Center Friday night, Oct. 29.

Deejay Tre’Von McCurdy, 16, turned down the music long enough for the crowd to judge the contest by applause.

The biggest hand went to Supergirl, aka Aiyanna Strong, 3, who proudly represented the descendants of Krypton and edged out Crypt Master Tae’Mir Lydell McCurdy-Johnson, 6, and Iron Man Devion Strong, also 6. All three are relatives of Lakeece McCurdy, 24, who grew up in the Milo-Grogan neighborhood and often took part in its Halloween programs.

This year’s celebration was special because Milo-Grogan was one of the rec centers that had been closed last year because of shortfalls in the city budget. With the reopening this month of Milo-Grogan and three other centers -- Feddersen, Glenwood and Indian Mound -- services have been restored at all of the city’s recreation centers.

“I was so happy when they were reopening the center.” McCurdy said. “It gives kids something to do. It keeps them out of the streets and out of trouble.”

Some of the young attendees won prize bags of candy for successfully throwing footballs through a dangling tire, rolling strikes or spares by knocking down plastic bowling pins or lifting a pop bottle upright with a ring on the end of a fishing line.

Center Manager Dennis Fields, a 15-year employee of Recreation and Parks, said that all of the attendees could have cake and parting gifts, as well as the candy awarded for contest skills.

He was pleased with the turnout and expects attendance to pick up as more people in the community become aware of the center’s reopening.

The gym is too small for teens to play basketball, but he expects it to be a good facility for peewee hoops.

Young children make up the majority of restored programs at Glenwood on the Hilltop, Center Manager James A. Davis said. That center has a tradition of teen basketball and he expects more teenagers to return when the weather turns colder.