Trick or Treat

Jamie Doran

Valley Press

Children and parents came out in droves to participate in the first annual Plains Trunk-or-Treat event held Friday night in Fred Young Park.

Faye Salamone said she was extremely pleased with how it went.

“Actually it went really well,” she said. Since it was the first year, Salamone didn’t expect such a high turnout.

Salamone was pleased with the number of Chamber of Commerce representatives that showed up. She said originally there was only going to be one other along with herself, but two other vehicles entered.

“We didn’t get the word out as well as we should have, and that’s something that we’ll work on for next year,” she said. “We’ll be better organized with it.”

Salamone said that the whole event was very well received and she estimated that there were probably about 200 children who came out for the event.

“I had seven bags of candy with maybe about 30 pieces in each bag and it was all gone by the end,” Salamone said with a laugh. “So I’d guess there were about 200 kids out there.”

She said another good indicator that the event was a hit was the long line for the children to get their hot dogs from the Lions Club, and Salamone said it was kind of them to let the Chamber of Commerce participate.

“It was very well received,” she said. “I loved seeing the little children and the other people who put their cars in seemed to have a good time as well.”

Salamone said that this is something that they absolutely want to do again, and next year they hope to get the word out more and make people aware of what exactly it is all about.

“People didn’t really know what to expect this time,” she said. “When they got there they had a lot of fun, but they really didn’t know what was going on.”

The event was designed as a safe way to keep trick-or-treaters off the streets until the churches in the area opened up for their harvest festivals.

“This gave them a safe place to go trick-or-treating before they went to churches,” she said. “It was family friendly and kept young people off of the streets. It was a great event for the community.”

The United Methodist Church and Shauna Sampson both won for best trunks.

Sampson had hers decorated with pumpkins and had mounds of candy. She said this was a great and safe way to have her two sons, Colin and Carter, go trick-or-treating.

“It is a great way to get them out and have some fun, while all the while being safe,” she said.

Salamone said that she wanted to thank all of the people who helped organize it and who came out to the event, making it a success.

“It was just very, very nice,” she said. “I know we can make it even better next year.”