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Some Local Halloween Treats:Cosby%u2019s K id s Of All AgesAre Invited To Slope%u2019s MarchBY TRACY GARRITYIt%u2019s difficult to decide who enjoys Halloween more: the kids who get to dress up as their favorite cartoon character, or parents who for one day each year, get to dress up like their children. Greg Etchinson has sidestepped that decision entirely with the first annual Halloween parade in Park Slope where costumes and frivolity will encourage the kid in all of Brooklyn.The only requirement to be in the parade, that steps off Halloween evening at 8pm, is a costume. %u201cWe%u2019ll welcome anyone to march with us,%u201d says Etchinson, %u201cincluding local politicians, but they must wear a costume. The theme of the parade is children, which pretty much leaves the costumes wide open. You can%u2019t really get more general than that.%u201dIt is Etchinson%u2019s hope that the parade will be led by Bill Cosby %u2014 a man who is no stranger to the fine line between child and adult-hoods. %u201cHe hasn%u2019t cancelled yet, so we are assuming that he%u2019s coming. His secretary said that if he couldn%u2019t make it, he would cancel. Of course we are hoping that he doesn%u2019t, and we have a whole fleet of antique cars for him and the other dignitaries to ride in, but he has a busy schedule.%u201d If Cosby does lead the parade, Etchinson expects a huge turnout. If the actor is forced to cancel, he expects the event to be more family than event oriented.THE FIRST TIME%u201cThis is the first time we%u2019re doing this, and the crowd doesn%u2019t really matter. We want to have fun, and create a place for the children of Park Slope to have a safe Halloween.%u201d He says that traditionally Park Slope%u2019s children parade throughout the neighborhood collecting treats. %u201cThis will just add a little structure to the route,%u201d he says. %u201cThe idea is really that of the community that always parades down Seventh Avenue. We%u2019re just pulling it together and putting it in the middle of the street.%u201dEtchinson says that the public and the merchants have endorsed the parade. %u201cThe police department, the fire department, the parks department have all been helpful in getting the parade started. We%u2019ve had their support, and the support of the merchants. All the merchants asked was that the parade not interfere with doing business, and I don%u2019t think that it will. It%u2019s going to be the sort of parade that you can just join along at any part of the route.%u201dAlthough the parade steps off at the cornerof Garfield Place and Prospect Park West, most of the children will join in at P.S. 321 on Seventh Avenue and 1st Street. Prior to joining the march, they will be given treats and balloons by the Park Slope Civic Council that had budgeted several hundred dollars for the celebration. The route goes from Garfield to Seventh Ave. up to 12th Street back to Prospect Park West. %u201cIt really couldn%u2019t be a simpler route,%u201d says Etchinson. %u201cIt%u2019s just a square, and easy for anyone to join in at any point along the route. In fact we%u2019d like spectators, but we%u2019d love everyone to march along with us.%u201dTREATED TO PARTYOnce the marchers get to Prospect Park, they will be treated to a party complete with refreshments, games and an autumn evening bonfire to really heat up the action. %u201cThe parks department has said the fire is all right, and we are just waiting for the approval of the fire department,%u201d says Etchinson.Etchinson adds that he was happy to set up the maiden jaunt around Park Slope, and is certainly no stranger to organization. As the yearly head of the Civic Council House Tours, he says this new responsibility is relatively simple. %u201cHalloween is probably my favorite holiday,%u201d he says. %u201cI know that it%u2019s supposed to do with pagan beliefs and witchcraft, but I really don%u2019t think that%u2019s valid anymore. I think it%u2019s really spirit filled for another reason. I think it%u2019s really a truly non-religious holiday, and the idea is to get dressed up and have some fun.%u201dTo make the parade complete, Etchinson says he%u2019s still looking for a couple of high school bands, and droves of marching people. %u201cWe%u2019ve never done this before, so it%u2019s all new to us. Many of the groups that are marching are coming up with and developing their own ideas for floats or themes within our theme of children. We are wide open to any suggestions, or any group. All we ask is that you wear a costume.%u201dThe Civic Council's Children%u2019s Parade starts at 6pm at the corner of Prospect Park West and Garfield Place. Organized groups and bands are asked to meet between 5:30 and 6pm. Parade route follows Garfield to Seventh Avenue; Seventh Avenue and 12th Street %u2014 stopping at P.S. 321 for children; 12th Street up to Prospect Park for party and bonfire. For information or to participate, call 788-9150.For Other Homegrown Fun Check Out TheHalloween Action Sponsored By Local GroupsOkay, so maybe there aren%u2019t hundreds of pumpkin patches in Brooklyn to go to on Halloween to wait for the great pumpkin, but that doesn%u2019t mean you have to sit alone in your kitchen eating pumpkin-faced cookies by the light of your jack-o-lantem. Several Brooklyn groups have come up with fun and safe ways to celebrate Halloween locally %u2014 so dust off the costume, and get that bag ready for Brooklyn%u2019s tricks and treats.For the Halloween traditionalist, the spirit of the day will haunt the bridle path at Prospect Park when Brooklyn%u2019s version of the Headless Horseman charges through several parks to the delight of kids young and old. As part of the annual %u201cHalloween Festival,%u201d at Prospect Park, Headless will make his appearance on October 25 between 12 and 3pm. Other features of the haunted walk include Dracula and other appropriate ghouls of the day. Several thousand visitors are expected to take that walk through the Nethermead with refreshments for those who come through it unscathed. A mini-carnival, with refreshments, bobbing for apples and Halloween balloons will run with the famed haunted walk. For info, call 7884)055.Later in the week, Headless will make his way to Marine Park on October 29. In a firstever haunted walk, participants will wander through the park haunted by Dracula, the Which sisters, and a full docket of macabre creatures. The haunted walk will be capped off by bobbing for apples with the Swamp Monster. The party runs between 5 and 7pm at Marine Park at Avenue U. If you%u2019ve still not had enough, visit the dusty crypt of the Prison Ship Martyr%u2019s Monument in Fortkids to the Arts at St, Ann%u2019s where Edgar Allen Poe%u2019s Halloween spinechiller, %u201cThe Mask of The Red Death,%u201d will be performed. In addition, musicians Fred Sherry, Rolf Schulte, Toby Appel, Toby Hoffman and Emily Mitchell will perform a Halloween Chamber of Horror Music of the Dead.%u201d Selections are suitable for children. Performance is October 30; tickets are $10. For information, call 834-8794.Finally, two local parades will be held to celebrate the day. The first ever children%u2019s parade in Park Slope, sponsored by the Civic Council in that neighborhood will step off from Garfield Place and Prospect Park West on Halloween at 6pm. Parade route follows Garfield to Seventh Avenue to 12th Street up to the Park for a party and refreshments. For info, call 788-9150. Also, the children of St. Mary%u2019s Star of the Sea Home/School Association will parade on October 26, beginning at 1:30pm. Meet in costume at the schoolyard on Nelson and Court Streets at 1:30pm. Santa Claus will finish this parade with gifts of candy for the marchers,Do The Monster MashThe Brooklyn Children%u2019s Museum will hold its Monster Mash Halloween party on Halloween Day, October 31, from 4-7pm. The event will feature music, stories and other activities.Two Wise Witches and Their Goblin Bro%u2019, a Halloween band, will perform their own songs and stories, and will lead a parade of children through the %u201cHaunted Tunnel%u201d inG&cciic Tut tlic buuc ul yuui liie, Gcurjtji 30.The fun gets started between 5 and 7pm at Fort Greene Park, DeKalb and Myrtle Avenues, and Washington and Cumberland Streets. For info, call 965-8917.For a more sophisticated scare, bring thei U - t f ------------- *_ ------- 1 ----%u2014------------1 -A___ %u2014A___ _ m K___1_ mic muocum o uuucigi vuiiu omucmuc. moonMaking and Face Painting are other activities.The Museum is at 145 Brooklyn Avenue. Advance registration is required. For information, call 7354400. - J.C.T r a d i t i o n . . .BASEBALL AND IKE WIUIANSMIMHGO ON GROWING TOGETHER.Since 1876, the National League has been bringingprofessional baseball excitem ent to millions %u2014generation after generation of fans.But twenty-five years before organized baseballwas bom, the Williamsburgh Savings Bank openedits doors to %u201cplay ball%u201d with the public. Ever since,the W illiamsburgh has proved to be a pennantwinning source of home mortgages, securesavings, personal loans and friendly service.Worthwhile things endure. Baseball, since 1876 %u2014and today m ore than ever the national pastime.And ihe Wiiiiamsburgh, since 1851 %u2014 today morethan ever helping growing numbers of new Iansbuild a brighter future.tq u a iOpportunityLPOdBfUO ctober 23, 1986, TH E P H O E N IX , Page 9