A large crowd filled the parking lot at Ludlam Avenue Park in Riverside this Sunday where spookily-decorated vehicles were lined up for the fourth annual Trunk-or-Treat event.
The event, which has grown every year in size since its inception, lasted around two hours from 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. and drew around 300 people, Flanders Riverside Northampton Community Association president Ron Fisher said.
The event’s goal was to give kids a safe, well-lit venue to trick or treat from car to car with their entire family, as well as for people to be able to learn “about the incredible transformation coming to the park at Ludlam Avenue,” Fisher said.
Mini-vans, cars, SUVs and pick-up trucks displayed their decorated trunks— from the traditional skeletons, spider-webs tombstones, witches and one-eyed pirates, to more modern themes like Netflix’s “Stranger Things,” emoticons and Pixar’s “The Incredibles.”
Children of all ages dressed as their favorite characters and collected candy, played in the park and enjoyed a series of arts and crafts onboard an RV, specially hired for the event.
Hot dogs, hot chocolate and other treats were also offered by the event sponsors: Riverside Rediscovered, FRNCA, Mobile/Manufactured Home Owners Association, Truth Community Church and the Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation.
The shelter showed up with their adoption mobile, a large van that is able to safely carry cats and dogs inside to the delight of everyone, who happily petted the animals.
This year FRNCA registered for Points of Light, a nonprofit organization who has partnered with The Walt Disney Company to help mobilize people into action through volunteerism and service. The idea, said Fisher, was to have as many volunteers as possible for the Trunk-or-Treat event and in exchange Disney would give FRNCA tickets to World Disney to help them with future fundraising. Fisher said that as many as 60 volunteers signed up. The number of tickets donated will be determined at a later date by Points of Light.
In addition to the candy and crafts donated by each volunteer, this year, FRNCA received a $500 donation from Michael Berdinka, president of Pool Time in the Hamptons Inc. Those funds helped hire the RV, as well as purchase coloring books, pumpkins, crafts and more candy.
“It’s very exciting to see so many people come to Ludlam Avenue Park and enjoy the day and the park,” said Fisher. “You can see the wonderful diversity of our community that is represented in the volunteers and the people coming.”
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