On the Town: It was a spooktacular night at Island County Club

The bewitching hour was 7 p.m. and when all the costumed spooks and goblins of the night arrived, they were ushered upstairs, and the real fun began.

It was eerie to find that the dining room had been turned into a cemetery.

There were skeletons, caskets, tombstones, hanging nooses, and cobwebs everywhere.

The tables were covered with black linen and matching napkins, and at the head of each table were tombstones draped with cobwebs and surrounded with moss.

There was even a mortuary with the coroner standing by.

During the cocktail hour, red "ghoulish punch" was bubbling in the large witches caldron. I'm sure only the brave dared to fill their mugs -- it certainly wasn't for the timid soul.

To add to the spooky surroundings, food and beverage manager Bid Bakkar and his staff were ghoulish in their hooded black robes and masks.

Still, they served an elegant, delicious and so-appropriate-to- the-occasion dinner.

For starters, all enjoyed the steamy pumpkin soup served in carved mini pumpkins and a salad of piquant olives and quail eggs perched on dark leaf lettuce with poppy seed dressing.

By now you will not be surprised to learn that the entree was luscious Shrimp scampi accompanied by black ravioli.

The grand finale to a great meal was the dessert.

Continuing with the Halloween theme were luscious, creamy and tart Key lime pies shaped like little white ghosts and accompanied by Halloween cookies.

The spooky dance floor was surrounded with a picket fence covered with moss and cobwebs, but that did not deter the dancers.

Disc jockey Randy Ray kept the dance floor filled with ghosts and goblins braving the bats that flew overhead and swayed to the melodies.

Before the great fun evening came to a close, Ray emceed a costume contest.

Everyone applauded the great and imaginative get-ups.

By a final vote, Betty and Ted Ely, dressed as a doctor and patient, won the grand prize.

It was a great fun evening, filled with tricks and treats for all those attending.

Special thanks to the hard work of general manager Lonnie Eberhard and his crew.

It was a large undertaking to convert the dining room into a "spook house" in such little time because the room is used for so many of the club's activities.

The day before the great party Eberhard had the area draped with black plastic liner so as not to reveal the Halloween surprise.

Ginny Stewart is a regular contributor to the Marco Island Eagle.