Truck-or-Treat attracts large crowd

By Lynne Werner
Bath-DeWitt Connection staff writer

BATH, Mich. – Bath Township’s annual Truck-or-Treat on Oct. 24 drew in hundreds of children and their families, all decked out in their Halloween best.  Bath Township Parks and Recreation has organized the event for five or six years.

The event was held at Bath Elementary School parking lot this year.  It has previously been held in the shopping center parking lot on the corner of Clark and Webster, but was moved because the school lot offered more room, said the event’s coordinator Becky Goodwin, who has been running the event for the past three years.  The middle school’s lot was used for parking for the event, which left the whole elementary lot for the trick-or-treaters, and made it a much safer environment for the kids, Goodwin said.

         Businesses and citizens set up cars along the edges of the lot while kids and their parents walked around and collected candy.  There was also a table with hot dogs and apple cider for hungry trick-or-treaters.  Uncle John’s Cider Mill, in St. John’s, Mich., donated 24 gallons of cider for the event.  A total of 37 businesses and citizens helped out by passing out candy, volunteering, or donating to the event.

The Red Hats Club was one of the many candy vendors at the event.  This was the club’s second year participating.  The women said they participate because “they like to have fun”.

“We live out in the country, and you don’t get many trick-or-treaters out there,” said Shirley Garrity, one of the Hatters.

Peacock Road Tree Farm donated small pumpkins for the kids to take home.  This was the first year pumpkins were handed out said Mike Goodwin, Becky’s husband, who was in charge of the pumpkins.  The pumpkins were wildly popular.

“The kids would forget to get candy,” Mike said.  “I would have to yell at them to come get the candy, too.”

Around 200 pumpkins were donated this year, but Mike says next year he will probably pick up around 250 or 300.

Two contests also were available to those who wished to enter.  According to the Parks and Recreation page on the township’s website, the Winzeler family won the pumpkin seed count contest, guessing there were 528 seeds in the jar, and won a 12-person hayride and bonfire party at Peacock Tree Farms.  The actual number of seeds was 555.  Gage Stout also won a $24 gift card to Jumpin’ Jax for guessing the weight of a pumpkin being 13.816 pounds, the actualy weight was 14.8 pounds.

Becky said the Parks and Recreation’s next event will be the Buck Pole on Nov 15.  The event will be held at the Senior Center by the police department.  Becky also said that the adult contest winner will receive a shotgun and the youth winner will receive a shoulder mount of their trophy.  There will also be a drawing for a $50 gift card to Dick’s Sporting Goods for the rest of the deer entered.