HOLLY — Organizers declared Holly’s annual Witches Night Out a success Friday despite a minor dancing error that left one spectator briefly folded into a ball.
The downtown event drew hundreds for costumes, shopping, drinks and the annual witch dance, which proceeded normally until first-year witch Donna Pickles stepped right when everyone else stepped left.
Nearby resident Gary Pritchard was immediately folded into a tight, human-sized ball.
Several spectators initially applauded, believing it was part of the performance, until veteran witches stopped the dance and asked everyone to remain calm and, more importantly, stop clapping.
“It makes it harder to unfold him,” longtime witch Mildred Crumbwell explained while pouring a circle of salt around Pritchard.
Veteran witches immediately began the emergency reversal, repeating the previous section of the dance backward while Pritchard remained conscious from somewhere inside the ball.
“This is why we start practicing in August,” Crumbwell said. “The dance isn’t difficult. It’s important.”
Pickles said the mistake happened quickly.
“Linda said left,” she said. “I went right.”
Pritchard was restored to his conventional shape several minutes later and suffered no lasting effects beyond a faint smell of sulfur and the ability to understand crows.
Organizers stressed that the dance has been performed safely for years, aside from what Crumbwell described as “the parking meter thing,” but declined to elaborate.
Pritchard said he still plans to attend next year.
“It was a great night,” he said. “Right up until I had elbows in places elbows don’t belong.”