Zombies invade Uptown

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(Photo by Rebecca Allison)

Waterloo was full of brain-eating, teeth-decaying, flesh-rotting monsters last Saturday, all in the spirit of the city’s annual Zombie Walk.

Hosted in Waterloo Public Square, hundreds of zombie-decorated participants came together to march the streets of Waterloo just weeks before Halloween. The event has gained much popularity over the past few years and drew in a large crowd of all ages.

“This is my third year doing it,” said 12-year-old Katie, who was covered in fake blood and scar makeup.

“I love it because nothing is cooler than an army of zombies.”

The event was about more than dressing up as the living dead for the day.

The Nutrition for Learning organization held a food drive to help deliver packaged goods to families in need and also supplied brochures with nutritional information.

“If students aren’t getting their required nutrients, they’re going to be nothing more than zombies for each of their classes,” said Brain Banks, an executive member of Nutrition for Learning.

“Students need to maintain a nutritional diet in order to reach their maximum potential in everything they do. Without certain mandatory nutrients, students end up walking around like zombies with piles of textbooks in their arms.”

The day was  full of many zombie-themed events. There was a zombie face-painting booth and a costume contest. A “gore table” was also popular amongst the crowd as it displayed many props of brains, guts and other zombie-related paraphenalia.

Horror film directors, Ryan M. Andrews, Greg Kovacs, Torin Langen and Reese Eveneshen were also in attendance and available for meet-and-greets.

“It’s a whole lot of fun for a great cause,” said the head organizer, Karen Andraza. “I’ve always loved zombies, they always make the coolest Halloween costumes.”

She went on to explain that the Zombie Walk had a deeper significance to the Waterloo community.

“[It’s] just an opportunity to bring the Waterloo community together and show some spirit,” she said.

“Nutrition for Learning is also a great organization that we get to support to help raise awareness on the importance of proper eating while collecting packaged food and giving them to families in need.”

The march around Uptown Waterloo was full of enthusiastic participants who refused to hold back on their costume creativity.

“I love to go all out when it comes to Halloween costumes,” said Gregory, another participant who declined to give his last name.

“This is my first year at the Zombie March so I knew I had to raise the bar in my costume. It’s a lot of fun to join in on all the spirit!”

The day was a great way to bring the community of Waterloo together and spark their Halloween enthusiasm a couple weeks early.

It has not yet been revealed how many zombies were in attendance, but Andraza said she was anticipating numbers higher than 400.

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