photo credit: Michelle Marques
One the Oct. 31 tableaux at the Mabelton mansion in
Santa Rosa.

McDonald Avenue in Santa Rosa is the place to go on Halloween night to see crazy costumes, elaborate decorations, and hit the motherlode when it comes to trick or treating.

I headed out with a microphone to capture some of the magic.

It's 7 P.M. on Oct. 31 and the street is mobbed with kids and parents. Almost immediately, I run into a group of middle schoolers and 13-year-old Hector is already amped on sugar. I ask him how long he had been out collecting candy:

“Like, three... two hours, like hour and a half ago." I ask, "What are you dressed as?" He answers, "I’m a dinosaur." I was curious, so I ask, "Are you gonna go trick or treating next year?" Without a pause, Hector answers, "Yes. I love candy.”

In a recent survey, people said that kids should stop trick or treating at 13-years-old, so I ask Hector when he would stop, and he has a definitive answer: "Never!"

The main attraction on McDonald Avenue is a sprawling mansion called Mableton. It is famous not just because it was the home used in the Disney movie Pollyanna, but for its immersive Halloween themes, featuring multiple actors and interactive scenes.

After waiting in a short line to get in, we are greeted by a man dressed as a bobby from Edwardian London.

“What kind of theme have we got this evening?" I ask. The bobby answers, "This year it’s Mary Poppins, and we have Mary Poppins on a cloud floating out there.”

Sure enough, there is a woman floating on a cloud, hovering over a city scape of London, surrounded by a sea of sparkling umbrellas.

A bit further down the way I run into a version of Dick Van Dyke’s Bert, merrily singing a tune with chalk drawings at his feet.

“That, really?" asks the actor, gesturing towards my microphone. I answer, "Yes, for the radio station. For Sonoma County’s NPR station." Without missing a beat, he breaks into song: "Chim chimney, chim chimney, chim chim ch-radio. It’s an amazing thing to be Bert on the radio! Chim chimney…" Charmed, I laugh and say, "Excellent, you heard it right here, Bert on the radio." .

At another spot, kids could try their hand at chimney sweeping, and on the steps of the mansion a woman is asking for a tuppence to feed the birds, while distinguished men in suits urge children to put their money in the bank. Next, there is a tableau straight from the film with carousel horses and musicians ready to break into song.

I ask a costumed woman near a piano, “How many times this evening have you sung Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious?" She responds, "How many times have I sang it tonight? Probably about, I’d say maybe about 50 so far. We’ll see how it goes." Concerned about the physical demands of that much singing, I ask, "How’s your jaw holding up?" She reassures me, "Oh, I love it! Are you kidding me? I’ve been here so many years. This is an exciting one, Mary Poppins, so yeah, this is a good one.”

I finally wind my way toward the exit gate and stop to talk to two women dressed as maids from the Banks family, handing out candy. I ask how much candy they needed to give everyone something sweet.

“I’d say 5,000 people. That was last year," one of the maids answers.