EXCELSIOR SPRINGS – A 92-year Excelsior Springs tradition is not happening this year because of COVID-19.

The Bill Payne Halloween Party, typically held on Halloween at the Clay-Ray Veterans Association in Excelsior Springs, has been cancelled this year in the interest of public safety.

Service Officer and Chaplin R.E. Holtz reported the event organizers did not take the shutdown decision lightly.

“We consulted with the health department, city officials and school officials before making our final judgement,” Holtz said. “The legion does not want to be responsible for getting children sick. We plan to return in 2021.”

The Halloween tradition is named for one of the community’s early police chiefs.

Bill Payne himself started the party going on 100 years ago. Today, the event is run by the Clay-Ray Veterans Association.

The event was originally started to keep youth occupied and out of trouble on Halloween night. After a holiday that was particularly rife with vandalism and other mischief, Payne organized the party and asked as admission only that all attendees sign a pledge to not engage in any behavior that would be harmful to people or property on Halloween night.

Holtz urged everyone to practice safe measures this Halloween and to honor the pledge that Payne stood behind all those years ago.

The Bill Payne Halloween Party is one of many events that have had to be called off across Clay and Ray counties, with the most prominent including the Excelsior Springs Waterfest, the Richmond Mushroom Festival, and annual high school proms and similar events in both communities.