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Churches celebrate friendly Halloween
Area churches sponsor free, family-oriented events in a safe environment.
Halloween trends in costumes and parties come and go.
Trunk-and-treat events and fall festivals sponsored by area churches, however, are gaining momentum and popularity. Families facing difficult economic times say they welcome the free Halloween-alternative events.
For trunk and treat, the congregation distributes candy and other treats from the trunks of their cars, positioned in church parking lots as ghosts and goblins parade past. Fall festivals focus on the season.
Halloween has evolved from a child-oriented occasion with homemade costumes and trick-or-treating for candy to a holiday where many adults enjoy elaborate parties, haunted houses and horror film festivals.
As society has changed, communities have adjusted and limited trick-or-treat hours. Safety of children is a prime factor.
Churches have responded by offering family-oriented events in a safe environment. Here’s a sampling:
UTrunk or treat from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. today at Centenary United Methodist Church, 1413 Belmont Ave., Youngstown. Paula Wylie, youth coordinator, said, “Last year’s event was well-received. We prepared for 60 kids and we had about 75. This year we’re expecting 125. It’s a nice Halloween alternative.”
Wylie said the church and its congregation backed the idea as a way to reach out to the neighborhood. For games, she said, children will be grouped in age ranges, and participants may be up to 18 years old. Activities will include pass the pumpkin, pin the nose on the pumpkin and limbo.
UTrunk and treat from 5 to 7 p.m. today at Austintown Community Church, 242 S. Canfield-Niles Road, for participants from 3 to 15 and accompanied by an adult. Brad Bloomster, director of ministries, said the trunk and treat and recent fall festivals at the church are ways for the church to show it cares.
“Halloween has a taken a dark turn in some ways ... like suggestive costumes,” Bloomster said. “We want to focus on the good and wholesome aspects and encourage kids to choose costumes with positive role models.”
He said the church has engaged children by its Kids in the Kitchen activity coordinated by member Barb Sullivan. Bloomster said the activity, for 3- to 12-year-olds in the preschool and after-school day care, involves learning how to cook and set the table. For the trunk and treat, the children will be making some things. “The kids are excited about doing something for other kids,” he said.
“What we believe needs to be lived,” Bloomster said, explaining how this activity is a way the church and congregation can “put faith into practice.”
U“Big Night, Heroes Unmasked” from 7 to 8 p.m. Friday at Liberty Assembly of God, 6779 Belmont Ave. The event will include games and candy; costumes are welcome but no face masks. Pastor Meghan Boyle, children’s pastor, said, “We wanted to offer a family event.” Children may go trick-or-treating and have the option of the event at the church. “Safety was a thought,” she said.
USlime Time Fall Festival and trunk and treat from 3 to 5 p.m. Nov. 2 at Good Hope Lutheran Church, 98 Homestead Drive, Boardman. “It’s a community outreach and safe alternative for families,” said Susan Wessner, associate in ministry. She noted the trunk-and-treat portion will distribute not only candy but lunch box food items and mittens. “Times are tough. It’s a way to help out people,” she said.
“This is a kid-friendly and not scary event,” Wessner said. “It’s focusing on a Christian message of something positive.”
The impetus behind this, along with free movie nights and car washes that the church offers, is “to make a difference in our neighborhood,” Wessner said. She said she looked at a map and saw 14 blocks surrounding the church and “natural borders” such as main thoroughfares. “The movie nights and car washes are a way to bring people together and get to know one another,” she said.
She described the Slime Time Fall Festival as a carnival. “A nutty professor will be doing experiments,” she said, along with other activities.
UHarvest Festival at 3 p.m. today at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 119 Stadium Drive, Boardman. Cameron Floy, director of discipleship, said the festival is a first for the church. “We wanted to have something seasonal,” he said.
Children will be able to decorate and paint pumpkins at the family-oriented event that also will include refreshments and games. The church has requested participants to sign up.
Some other events are: Slime Time Family Fall Festival with games and treats from 4 to 7 p.m. Nov. 1 at Faith Community Church, 1919 E. Midlothian Blvd., Youngstown; Fun Fall Festival with Veggie Tale video, crafts and games from 10 a.m. to noon next Saturday at Mahoning United Methodist Church, 2214 Mahoning Ave., Youngstown; and Fall Fest with bounce house, dunking booth, hayrides and refreshments from 5 to 7 p.m. today at Highway Tabernacle, 3000 S. Raccoon Road, Austintown, for participants up to the sixth grade.