Native Melrose Park boy in wheelchair unveils Harry Caray Halloween costume

Anthony Alfano brings his iconic costumes to Tennessee after family moves from Melrose Park

Cheryl Burton Image
Thursday, October 26, 2023
Native suburban boy unveils latest iconic wheelchair Halloween costume
What will Anthony Alfano be for Halloween this year? The native Melrose Park boy known for his wheelchair-accessible costumes unveils the latest look.

MELROSE PARK, Ill. (WLS) -- A suburban boy, who has become well-known for his wheel-chair accessible Halloween costumes, has unveiled his latest look for this year.

From a young age, Anthony Alfano has been a Halloween legend. The 14-year-old, who has cerebral palsy, has gained quite the following.

"It's just become bigger than us," his mother, Deanna Alfano, said. "The calls start coming in September from family, from friends, Facebook. 'What's the costume, what's the costume?'"

He has been Cameron from "Ferris Buehler," Beetlejuice, Zoltar from the movie "Big," and last year he was the the bone organ from the 80's classic, "The Goonies."

This year however, the setting is different. Anthony and his family recently moved from Melrose Park to Tennessee.

A task that typically takes months had to be done in just one week.

"I was in the mix of the move, starting a new job, putting the house together, and trying to think of a costume," his father, Tony Alfano, said. "It just came to my head. We're big Cubs fans. Harry Caray was one of our greats. So moving from Chicago to here, we were like 'let's try to bring a Chicago theme to Tennessee.'"

Anthony finally got to put on the costume, dressing up as the late Chicago broadcasting legend Harry Caray with an entire broadcasting booth implemented into his wheelchair.

"We got on eBay, and we found the old school Cubs jacket," Deanna said. "We went on eBay and got the little TV monitor."

In his new home hundreds of miles away, Anthony will have a whole new set of fans.

"The second he saw Tony in the garage building it up, he knew what was coming," Deanna said. "So then once we put him in the costume, it's like 'Oh, here we go again.'"

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