ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Due to the current construction project occurring at the historic bike trail, Boo at the Biketrail has been moved to Central Park Amphitheater located next to the St. Clairsville High School football stadium.

The event is today at 6:30 p.m. and is free for people of all ages.

Parks and Recreation Director Eric Gay said that once he realized that the construction project wouldn’t be completed in time for the annual trick-or-treat event, city officials stepped up to ensure that a plan was created for the community to still have it.

“We have a lot of local businesses who’ve stepped up to hand out a bunch of goodies for the kids. We’ll have Halloween music playing, Halloween decorations, and it’s going to be fun for kids of all ages and families to come out,” Gay said. “It’s one of our favorite events throughout the year.”

He added that he enjoys the event so much because of seeing all of the kids’ costumes. He also enjoys getting to mingle with families that attend.

“Everything that we have to give out is free, so it’s always good to be able to give back to everybody,” Gay said. “And we know how much kids like candy. So it’s kind of cool to see them all here. We can’t thank all the businesses enough for being a part of this.”

He added that 17 area businesses will be in attendance distributing candy to residents during the event.

Gay said that parking is available at the Rec Center’s parking lot with additional parking available by the amphitheatre.

“We just wanted to still hand out candy to the kids, and it’ll just be an easy, chill, nice night,” Gay said.

Another event that the Parks and Recreation department will be hosting is its annual Turkey Trot that is a 5K run and walk that occurs on Thanksgiving morning.

The trot starts at 9 a.m. and is $25 to enter.

Gay said that the Turkey Trot is by far his favorite event due to the amount of former residents who return to spend Thanksgiving with their families.

Registration is open now at the Rec Center’s website at Stclairsvilleparksandrecreation.com.

He said that there won’t be a cut-off after a certain number of runners sign up but pre-registration gives him a better understanding of how many participants to plan for.

This year’s race will be raising money for the St. Clairsville Alumni Association.

“We’re really encouraging everybody to come out. This is all for the St. Clairsville Alumni Association this year and I’m really hoping for another great turnout,” Gay said.

The last event Gay spoke about is the Unified Cup, which is a winter golf league on the virtual golf simulator at the Unified Jr. Rec Center.

Gay has not announced the dates of the nine-hole scramble yet, but said he is planning to begin in the middle of January.

Registration is $100 per two-person team with prize money being awarded to the first, second and third placed teams.

“We wanted to give avid golfers or people that are just looking to learn a place in winter that are looking to get some swings in,” he said.

Gay added that the most important part of his job is hosting events for the community.

“We’re here to help and we’re in the position to. Not just myself, but the city in general is. All of the staff, administration, and council, are put in positions where we can help and do some good, and we are,” Gay said. “Everybody can see all of the good things that are happening around the city right now, and it’s because we’re all on the same page with everything.”