On Saturday, October 28th, 32 Brookfield Central clubs, including TYRO, met at the Trunk or Treat event hosted at the BC’s front parking lot from 2:00pm to 3:30pm. All clubs decorated their cars accordingly with Halloween themed decor, while many kids from around the community came to do their favorite Halloween pastime: trick or treating.
Historically, trick or treating has been done door-to-door across a neighborhood. Houses are decorated with many attractions hoping to have kids knock on their door for candy. In recent years, a new alternative has popped up across the country: “trunk or treating.” Trunk or treating is an activity that allows children to collect candy from trunks of cars gathered in parking lots. While this originally started as an initiative by churches to provide a safer environment for trick-or-treaters, trunk or treating has quickly risen in popularity. Some argue that by taking away the traditional house-to-house approach of trick or treating, kids who celebrate Halloween will be deprived of the ability to step outside their comfort zone, which in this case would ask a stranger for a piece of candy. However, others counteract this by saying that trunk-or-treating is a much safer option than kids wandering by themselves with strangers lurking around. This type of trick-or-treating took place on October 28th, with cars lined up in the parking lot offering candy to any kids wandering nearby.
Brookfield Central’s Trunk or Treat event was an amazing opportunity for TYRO and other clubs to promote their own activities and events by attracting fellow trunk-or-treaters. Often, cars that were adjacent to one another had representatives from both vehicles engage in small talk, and some students even walked home that day as a member of a new club! One club representative stated, “Not only was the event fun, but I also met a lot of cool people with cool customs.” Another club representative expressed, “It was fantastic. We get to dress up, give out candy, and meet new people.” The effort that all clubs put on display during the event amazed a lot of onlookers. A lady even said, “There are so many clubs with so many different things to do! I found it amazing that nowadays, students have such an interest in doing so many things at the same time!”
The event was not only open to the clubs of Brookfield Central but also the greater community. Even the Brookfield City police showed up with their car decked out in a myriad of spider webs and pumpkins adorning the trunk of the car. The officers were full of joy as each trick-or-treater passed by, answering questions kids had about the police. As one officer put it, “The event was great. I think it’s good to see the kids out and do a new way of trick or treating.” The Brookfield fire department, which had members show up in a red and white-coated with a mascot named “Sparky” also shared this feeling. The fire department was equally enthusiastic about giving candy to the kids. “[We] had a great time giving candy to the kids. I’m glad we came to help out,” said a firefighter. Clearly, the clubs were not the only ones having a good time, as Brookfield’s local services also enjoyed the Halloween tradition.
With that said, the Trunk or Treat event was a massive success, regardless if you were a club representative or just a kid wanting to get their hands on some candy. “[Events like this] really bring the community together, regardless of the temperature,” a Trunk or Treat participant stated. We hope next year will be just as splendid. See you next year!
