Community Corner

Couple's Halloween Party Benefits Charity

Most of the 50 attendees of Gene and Lonna Gawryleski's party Saturday night brought food with them for St. Margaret's Outreach Center.

Flickering candles, shrieks of horror, a sprawling fog and a ghoulish ghost greeted guests on Shady View Drive in Palm Desert Saturday.

The freakish Halloween décor at Gene and Lonna Gawryleski’s home was for a Disney-inspired party with a philanthropic twist that benefited St. Margaret's Outreach Center on San Pablo Avenue in Palm Desert.

“People kept asking what can we bring to the party?” Gene Gawryleski said. “We’ve taken food several times to the pantry on San Pablo. That’s where we got the idea for guests to bring food to the party.”

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More than 50 people attended and were dressed in Disney themed costumes, including Ariel from “The Little Mermaid,” Beauty and the Beast and Captain Jack Sparrow from “Pirates of the Caribbean, among other characters (see the photos above for more).

In all, five boxes packed with food were collected throughout the night for the center, which to local families on Tuesdays.

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“Every week we worry about having enough food,’’ said Bob Kimball, a volunteer at St. Margaret’s Outreach Center who attended the party.

Kimball said he was blown away by the details of the party, including a ghost that could be seen in the couple’s jeep in the driveway.

“There is nothing like it (the decorations),” Kimball said, adding that anyone can bring donations to the Outreach Center on Tuesday mornings.

Lonna Gawryleski said her neighbors in Wisconsin used to host the big Halloween party, and she and her husband decided to host their own in the desert.

“We heard from people who said, ‘Oh God it’s been so long since I’ve been in costume,’” Lonna said, dressed up as the Queen of Hearts from “Alice in Wonderland.” Her husband, Gene, was dressed as the Mad Hatter.


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