Lansford's fifth annual Pumpkin Parade was a day late, but nobody seemed to mind.

Postponed from Saturday because of rain, the four division event was staged Sunday and was followed by a downtown Halloween party that attracted several hundred people."One more positive happening in the town of Lansford," was how Lansford Borough Council President Robert Gaughan described the parade and the party while watching volunteers hand out hot dogs, potato chips, and soda to participants. "It gets kind of old reading all the bad news. Everybody looks like they're having a good time and behaving themselves."The parade was sponsored by the Improvement Committee of Lansford Alive.Renee Slakoper, parade organizer, said she was very pleased with the participation and turnout."For other towns having parades today, this is a great turnout with great borough cooperation." She said she was especially glad to see the four Panther Valley communities - Lansford, Coaldale, Nesquehoning, and Summit Hill - taking active roles.For Slakoper, who has been in charge in all five parades since the annual march was revitalized in 2004, said this was the most difficult for her to organize. That's because ownership in her employment changed hands and she had the parade material stored on her computer there.Normally she begins contacting people and working on the parade in February. She said this year, "I started from scratch. I literally had to put it together in a short time."Judges for the parade were Sue Solt, president of Coaldale Borough Council; Joe Weber, president of Summit Hill Borough Council, and Gaughan.Winning prizes were:• Best fire truck - Pumper 4017 of the Coaldale Fire Department.• Best Ambulance - Lansford Ambulance.• Best Band - Panther Valley High School Band.• Best Classic Car - Owned by Alex Shereba.• Best Group Over Six Members - Panther Valley Youth Soccer.In Childrens' Judging the winners were:• Most Original - Mason Malloy and Madison Malloy (The Blues Brothers).• Prettiest - Alison Slakoper (Cleopatra)• Most Unique - Josh Faenza (Tank)• Funniest - Emily Hunsicker (Clown)• Ugliest - Jake Welse (Jester)• Scariest - Kailee Carroll (Zombie)