There may not have been many “lions, tigers and bears” out on the streets collecting candy and treats Monday night for Halloween, but sightings of Spiderman, Leonardo and even Wonder Woman were aplenty throughout Jefferson Street for the fifth annual Boo Fest Trick or Treat event.

An unofficial count of 664 children, most accompanied by more than one family member, made their way up and then back down the one-block long blocked off portion of Cumberland Street on the south side of the Clinton County Courthouse square.

Designed as a way of keeping children safe and away from traffic on what is traditionally one of the most dangerous nights of the year, this year’s Boo Fest was certainly the biggest and most successful yet.

Now in it’s fifth year, the Boo Fest event was the brainchild of Albany City Council member Tonya Claborn Thrasher, who organized the first event five years ago in honor of five-year old Aleigha Duvall who was struck by a vehicle on Halloween, 2011, and tragically lost her life.

Thrasher convinced her fellow city council members to close the one block long section of Jefferson Street off for the event the following year, 2012, and the council has continued to close the street for Boo Fest each year since.

Monday night’s crowd on Jefferson Street was certainly larger than anyone had anticipated.

“Oh, my gosh, I was so excited,” Thrasher told the Clinton County News Tuesday morning during a brief telephone interview from her office at the Clinton County High School Resource Center. “It was bigger than any we have ever had before and we had more groups and businesses passing out candy then ever before.”

Thrasher said that before the night had ended Monday, the participation had them a little worried that they might run out of candy, but that wasn’t the case.

“We had to start rationing the candy a little because we were afraid we were going to run out, and we bought a lot of candy this year,” Thrasher said.

She added that she thought there were more than one reason the event had such tremendous success this year, noting the fantastic weather here on Monday with clear skies and warmer than normal temperatures did a lot to bring out the crowd.

Other reasons Thrasher noted included more publicity about the Boo Fest event, and also just the fact that the event perhaps has reached the stage of being a community tradition that people want to be a part of.

She also said she and her fellow city officials will be looking at the possibility of expanding the event to another courthouse square street in the future.

“I would love to see it go around the square, or at least one or two more sides of the courthouse,” Thrasher said. “I was just so excited to see the crowd and everyone saying they had a fantastic time – we were just absolutely blown away.”

Most of Thrasher’s fellow city council members as well as Albany Mayor Nicky Smith can be found near the western most entrance to Jefferson Street passing out candy and treats.

In addition to the city officials and many city employees, several local businesses and area churches were on hand as well, along with several law enforcement officers from the Albany City Police Department as well as Clinton County Sheriff Jim Guffey and several of his deputies.