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Hundreds at Cortland dealer’s 1st trunk-or-treat
CORTLAND
Two huge inflatable dinosaurs, one worn by Hadley Reese of Austintown, squeezed through doors and carefully maneuvered their way through the crowd of kids and parents and grandparents who nearly overwhelmed a trunk-or-treat event here Saturday.
Apostolakis Cortland’s first-time trunk-or-treat event, from 2 to 4 p.m., attracted an estimated 600 Halloween revelers by 3 p.m. Apostolakis sponsored a similar event in Hermitage, Pa., at its Shenango Honda dealership.
The Cortland dealership had hoped for 50 to 100 visitors, said Meredith Mongelluzzo, marketing director for both dealerships.
“We are planning other family-friendly community events. We want to invite people here for reasons other than buying a car,” she said.
“We never expected a crowd like this in a million years,” said John Apostolakis, owner of the dealerships.
The purpose of the event is about being part of the community and providing a safe way to trick-or-treat; and the trunks, decorated by dealership staff members gives everybody something interesting and sometimes scary to look at, Apostolakis said.
“The staff put a lot of time into this. We’re all having a blast,” he said.
So, too, were the kids, in costumes ranging from numerous princesses to comic characters to homemade finery, all having a great time collecting their booty.
Carol Ayres of Kinsman, who brought her granddaughter, Jada Shaffer, 8, wearing a Greek goddess costume, said it was very nice that it was inside, especially on a rainy day.
Apostolakis’ original plan was to have the event outdoors, but it was moved into the showrooms because of the inclement weather.
Diana Cunningham of Cortland, who brought her son, Zachary, 10, dressed as a blue dragon, agreed.
“It’s a great way to bring the community in. It’s safe for the kids, and today, it’s dry,” she said.
“You can’t lose your kids,” said Cheyanne Parish of Lordstown, whose daughter, Haven Moran, 4, dressed as Sleeping Beauty, and son, Landon Moran, , in a Superman costume, were busy filling their goody bags.
Another mom who appreciated the event being indoors and warm and safe was Kaitlin Hause of Fowler, who was busy keeping track of her kids, Markas Rishel, 8, wearing a ninja outfit; Peyton Rishel, 6, posing as a pink skeleton; and Bailey Rishel, dressed as a scary cheerleader.
One of the cars that attracted a lot of attention, besides the decorated new vehicles, was an all-original – except the paint – 1924 Willys Overland, which has a top speed of 35 miles per hour, said its owner, Bob Cunningham of Cortland, a salesman at Apostolakis.
Also not original equipment were the scary skeleton passengers; a driver at the wheel holding a dog on a leash and some other critters in the back seat.
Winners of drawings for limited-edition Schwinn bicycles from the Netflix series, “Stranger Things,” are Heather Miller at Apostolakis Cortland and Noah Simons at Apostolakis Shenango.
Winners for best costumes at Apostolakis Cortland, are:
First place: Tie between brother and sister, Lewis and Clara (their last name was not provided) wearing self-made costumes, Rae from “Star Wars,” and Tron.
Second place: Makenna Wymer, dressed as Brutus the Buckeye.
Third place: Xahria Easton, cupcake costume, judged the most adorable costume of the day.