We are a City of Austin registered neighborhood group known as The Friendly Fiends from Haskell Street and we are part of the East Cesar Chavez Neighborhood Planning Area. We are a registered neighborhood group known as The Friendly Fiends from Haskell Street and we are part of the East Cesar Chavez Neighborhood Planning Team. Here’s a brief history: Back in 1985, we (Sabino Pio and Lori Renteria) had a boys and girls Camp Fire Club on our block and because the media put out fears of poison candy and razor blades in apples, parents did not want to allow their children to go trick or treating to strangers’ homes. So, the Kiwaya Camp Fire Club came up with the idea to do a Block Party and have all the candy x-rayed at Brackenridge Hospital. Over the years, the Party grew larger each year and funds to buy candy were provided by IBM where Pio and Lori worked and later by a group they co-founded called United East Austin Coalition. The neighbors ran games in their yards and Pablo and Rachel Ortiz built a haunted house in their front yard. When the Ortiz family moved, the Renteria family - with Pablo's expert assistance - took over hosting the FREE Haunted Casa in their backyard. But in 1999, there was a drive-by shooting at Martin Park by youth gangs and fearing violence at our Block Party, we stopped having the event and moved the haunted house to Sanchez Elementary School. A former Camp Fire club member helped revive the tradition when his child turned 2 years old and we have been doing our Block Party continuously since 2002 - except for the Covid 19 Pandemic in 2020. We have home-made, Haloweeny games and youth must play the game to get a candy. We used to block the street, but the city’s new street closure rules cost over $2,000.00 so we stopped using barricades. We usually get between 1,500 and 2,500 youth who come to our event depending on the weather. It's a multi-generational tradition in our neighborhood that is fondly remembered by most everyone who has participated. Parents and grandparents who no longer live in the neighborhood, drop off their childrent to enjoy a safe Halloween while the adults park at Martin Middle School and reconnect. As long-time residents grew older, chasing balls, bones, and rubber snakes got more difficult, we then recruited the Brothers of the Eta Alpha Chapter of Sigma Lambda Beta (SLB) International Fraternity, Inc. at the University of Texas at Austin, to help us run the games and haunted house. We have between 10-30 SLB Brothers help each year and we couldn’t do it without their help! We spend about $1,000 on the event. We need funds to provide candy for the games, witches brew punch, and food and drinks for the UT SLB Brothers and other volunteers who come the week before the event to unpack everything, repair games, build the haunted house, and come back to run games and act as monsters on Halloween night. For 4 years, the East Cesar Chavez Neighborhood Team got a small grant from Austin Energy’s Holly Power Plant Neighborhoods Grant Program. We regularly recieve donations of cash and individually-wrapped candy from local businesses, the Austin Firefighters Association, Friends of the ESB MACC, elected officials, and from donations to our PayPal account on this page. In lean years, Sabino Pio and Lori Renteria fund the event. Neighbors seek donations by asking their employers, friends and family members to make contributions, too! We sometimes rent a bounce house. We used to barricade the street but now try to have volunteers wearing safety vests to be human barricades at the intersections at Navasota and Comal. We ask neighbors and visitors not to park vehicles on the Haskell Street from 5 - 9 pm on Halloween night. Our beloved Haskell Street has been gentrified and only a few long-time families still live on the block. However, our newer neighbors have stepped up to volunteer to run games in their yards and to participate in donating candies. Once in a while, a neighbor or ally will do a candy drive at their workplace. We provide posters and collection boxes upon request. Sponsors are listed on a large poster at the event. We try to buy at least 2,000 individually-wrapped candies each year and if not all the candy is used, we donate it to others serving low-income youth. When the Daniel and Margaret Camacho family lived on our block, they hosted the cupcake walk in their yard. That tradition left when Maragret then Dan Camacho passed away. We also have Info tables by different people and groups from time to time but try not to allow political campaigns to do anything more than put up yard signs or have their own volunteers canvass the crowds. If you would like to volunteer to run a game or donate cash or individually-wrapped candies, or have Ideas? Call the good witch on the eastside, Lori Renteria, at 512-478-6770 or loriaustin@live.com.
