As October comes and the spooky season begins, the idea of candy and trick-or-treating comes to the minds of many children. But with Halloween there is only one opportunity, and sometimes this can be complicated like if the holiday falls on a weekday or has unpredicted weather.
For children in Bath Charter Township, there’s a solution to this problem. That solution is the annual Truck or Treat event on Oct. 21 from 6-7 in the parking lot of Bath High School. This event gives kids another opportunity to dress up in their costumes and go vehicle to vehicle collecting candy from local businesses and institutions before the actual holiday.
“I enjoy seeing the kids having so much fun,” local parent Shannon Proctor, 43, said. “You see their excitement with the fire trucks and the cop cars, things like that.”
Last year over 450 children participated with their families. One past participant is Kristi Colby, 53, with her daughter and 4-year-old granddaughter. Colby said that if the actual night of Halloween has weather unsuitable for really young kids, this event gives another opportunity for them to feel they’ve participated in trick-or-treating that year.
“It’s not just going door-to-door it’s an event where a ton of people are at so that’s kind of nice,” Colby said. “The atmosphere itself is really festive, it brings a lot of people even from other communities.”
Colby, who is the administrative assistant at the Bath Police Department said that the event also helps with community relations for the local police and fire department who participate. Additionally, the event helps local businesses show that they are community oriented.
The event also includes a penny-war where attendees can vote on which participants have the best displays by casting votes through pennies, meaning a dollar is 100 votes. The name of the winning display will be engraved on a plaque. Most recently, this was the local senior center and the money collected in the vote is put towards the youth scholarship fund.
Truck or Treat has been going on for over 10 years and began as “touch a truck” which had work vehicles like construction equipment, for kids to see up close. This later evolved into a community event by inviting local businesses and has continued growing with new additions as explained by Bath’s Parks and Recreation Director Becky Goodwin.
“There’s a local artist who participates by handing out candy and making a backdrop for photos,” Goodwin, 61, said.
She also mentioned the possible Ghostbusters Dance being organized. If enough elementary aged children are signed up at the Bath Township Offices by Sept. 27, then a dance instructor will host three classes for them. The children would then learn a dance to the Ghostbusters theme song and perform at the event.
If there’s bad weather, the event will be pushed to Oct. 28. However, Goodwin said that’s unlikely, as it’s really only in the case of rain.
“We’ve done this in snow and sleet and we’ve been out there in 80 degree weather,” Goodwin said. “This is Michigan.”