Several area communities have parades and parties planned for the annual Halloween enjoyment of their ghosts, goblins and other costumed creatures.

The annual parade will be Thursday on Main Street. The parade will form at 6:15 p.m. on Walnut and Elm streets, organizers said. Judging will follow at 6:45 p.m., with prizes awarded for the best costumes.

Paraders will step off at 7 p.m. and go along Main Street. After the parade, cider and doughnuts will be served to paraders in the municipal parking garage, where participants may be picked up. For more information, call John D. Barclay at 432-0010.

The yearly event is sponsored by the Del-Otsego Sertoma, and the Rotary, Kiwanis and Lions clubs of Oneonta.

The Franklin Central School Student Council will hold its annual Halloween party on Thursday.

The festivities will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the school's cafeteria. The party will include a pumpkin judging contest, costume judging and a haunted house. There will be prizes for the most creative, scariest and best-carved pumpkins.

The costume judging will be in the following categories: pre-K and younger, Grades K-3, Grades 4-6, high school/adult and groups. The winners in these categories will compete for the grand prize.

The celebration is open to the public, and everyone is invited to attend.

The DARE program of the Sidney police and Elks Lodge 2157 are sponsoring a party from 6 to 8 p.m. today at the Elks Lodge at 104 River St.

There will be costume judging, bobbing for apples and various other activities. For more information contact Gary Stevens at the Elks Lodge or officer Jan Gorschack with the department.

Townsend Elementary School's annual costume parade begins at 1:15 p.m. Thursday at the school on North Street. The parade proceeds across Mead Street, down Townsend Street to Delaware Street, along Delaware Street to Gardiner Place and then back to the school.

There are no specific hours for trick-or-treating Thursday evening, but Mayor Carl Vogel requests that children not go to houses where the lights are off.

The annual Halloween party at the Fire Hall for children in pre-school through sixth grade will take place from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday. The Delaware Academy Honor Society is running games for the children. Refreshments will be served.

Delaware Academy and Central School first-grade students will have a costume parade at the Delaware County Countryside Care Center from 1 to 1:45 p.m.

Downsville Central School students will have a costume parade at 2 p.m. Thursday. The students will be bused to Covered Bridge Park and will parade back to the school along Main Street, according to a school spokesperson.

The Roxbury Central School costume parade will begin at 1:30 p.m. Thursday. The students will leave the school and walk up Main Street to the square and then back to the school, according to a school spokesperson.

South Kortright Central School will hold the annual costume parade in the school from 12 to 12:40 p.m. Thursday. The middle school is playing host to a dance from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. Friday, according to a school spokesperson.

There are no specific trick-or-treat hours, but the village curfew — requiring that everyone under 19 be off the streets at 9 p.m. — will be in effect, according to a village official.

Margaretville Central School's costume parade begins at 1:30 p.m. Thursday. The students will parade along Main Street to the bank and back to the school, according to a village official.

Trick-or-treating is from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, followed by a Halloween party for children at Greenlawn Elementary School from 7:30 to 9 p.m., sponsored by the Bainbridge Lions Club.

Trick-or-treating in the village will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday. There will be activities at the school from 7 to 8 p.m.

Trick-or-treating is from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday. Starting at 6 p.m. the school will have several activities, including a costume parade at 6:15 p.m.

At 7 p.m. there will be cartoons for young children. From 7 to 9:30 p.m. there will be an open gym, dance for grades 7-12 and open pool for grades 4-12.

If you have some good news you'd like to share, please call Managing Editor Cary Brunswick at 432-1000 or (800) 721-1000; e-mail him at cary@thedailystar.com; fax him at 432-5707; or write to him at P.O. Box 250, Oneonta, NY 13820.