Children gathered at Sam Michael’s Park for Saturday afternoon’s candy drop, held by Jefferson County Parks and Recreation, in commemoration of Halloween. Toni Milbourne

SHENANDOAH JUNCTION — A change-up in how Jefferson County Parks and Recreation celebrated Halloween this year literally had candy falling from the sky, as hundreds of anxious children waited below.

For the first time, the department celebrated the spooky season with a candy drop, as well as a magic show for children, on Saturday afternoon.

“We were looking for something a little different and we had heard about other locations doing candy drops,” said Jennifer Myers, parks director. “With help from some very special partners, we were able to have an incredibly fun event.”

Those partners, who provided the “up in the sky” ability to create a candy drop included Viking Tree Service, LLC, Citizens Fire Company and S&K Enterprises, LLC. The three partners brought trucks, including a ladder truck, with the ability to raise the candy high above the ground and, when given the go-ahead, dump the candy to the ground.

Children were roped off from the drop area and actively participating in the countdown to have the candy fall to the ground. As the countdown happened, the spectators watched as nearly 20,000 pieces of candy were dropped so that the children could then enter the area and fill their goodie bags.

A slight rain shower did nothing to dampen the spirits of the children, their parents or the parks staff and partners as the event turned out to be a huge success.

After every piece of candy was secured by little hands, children and parents gathered at The Amp for exciting entertainment provided by The Magic of Mike Perrello. Children were awed by sleight of hand trickery performed at the show.

“I think it was a huge success,” Myers said after the event was over, adding that it took a lot of planning to get all of the activities in place.

“We could never have done it without Viking, Citizens and S&K,” Myers said. “They seemed as excited to participate as the kids.