A group of residents, dressed in witch costumes, perform the German Witch Dance Thursday, Oct. 31, on Maple Street in Prospect. It has been a tradition in the neighborhood. Zach Zimmerman/Butler Eagle

PROSPECT — While local storefronts handed out candy and police directed pedestrian traffic for the trick-or-treaters, a group of dancing witches may have been the biggest Halloween attraction Thursday, Oct. 31, in the borough.

Nicole Szybka started the tradition with her mom, Rose, and her friend, Dianne Bishop, about six years ago. At their house on Maple Street just behind the Prospect Fire Hall, the group of women dress in their witch costumes for Halloween and perform “the German Witch Dance.”

“Dianne one day just said ‘Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if we did this?’ So it started out with Dianne, my mom and I, and then we’ve grown a little bit,” Szybka said. “Sometimes they watch us dance, sometimes they dance with us.”

The group now includes Karen Panella, Sarah Trubusich, Ruth Stewart and Szybka’s aunt, Marilyn. All seven were decked out in full witch costumes with brooms in hand, performing for the neighborhood.

The German Witch Dance can be traced back to Walpurgisnacht, a holiday in Germany similar to Halloween. The dance is performed to old German folk music.

For the German witch dancers of Prospect, there wasn’t any more reason needed than it’s fun to dance on Halloween night with the community. Crowds of trick-or-treaters — from parents pushing their toddlers in strollers to groups of children in elementary school — made their way down Maple Street and joined in with the group of witches to dance and celebrate Halloween.

“Just a bunch of witches having fun,” Panella said.