Ghosts, ghouls, princesses, bugs, beloved characters and more filled the streets and sidewalks in the area to celebrate Halloween with more than just the traditional Trick-or-Treat. Along with the annual nights of finding the lighted porches and asking residents for some treats, there were Trunk-or-Treats and Illuminate.
As trick-or-treaters from all around the coverage area made their way from house to house and even had some special surprises like those in Leesport where the Leesport Fire Company members brought their trucks to Trick-or-Treat and let the children step into and explore real fire trucks, others stopped at Hamburg’s “Illuminate” on Oct. 30 and one of the Trunk-or-Treats like the one sponsored by Shoemakersville Recreation Board on Oct. 31.
The parking lot near the pavilion at Shoemakersville Park was decked out in orange lights and filled with various decorated vehicles with each displaying a theme and filled with goodies for the young trick-or-treaters and in some cases the adults as well. It may have been on the cooler side, but that did not keep the dressed-up children away. Along with the decorated trunks in the parking lot there were temporary tattoos, Candy Corn Bingo, bean bag toss, Mummy Time, Candy Scramble and a contest for the best trunk.
“Thank you to everyone that came out tonight,” said Shilpa Moser, Shoemakersville Recreation Board, on the park program’s Facebook page. “We had a great turnout. Hope everyone had fun. We will see you next year as this event will be in sync with one of Shoemakersville’s Trick or Treat nights. A big thank you for the donations and to the Shoemakersville Fire Police.”
The day before Halloween, Pine Street between Fourth and Third Streets in Hamburg was shut down for “Illuminate 2014” which featured a tropical, feathery theme inspired by the chosen movie for this year “Rio.” Started in 1999, at the time called “Ark in the Park,” The Bridge Church sponsored event was designed to create a safe and family-friendly spin on Halloween and a way to promote the church’s message. In 2000, the event was renamed “Light the Night” to fit with a nation-wide Halloween outreach. The following year or so, the event moved from the parking lot on North Fourth Street to the municipal lot that it is currently at. In 2009, the event had one more name change to “Illuminate.”
Two years ago, after seeing a need for the teen-focused part of the event, Pastor Josh Hartman joined with Dan Bailey at the Journey Cafe to reach out to the older children.
“We stuffed 13,000 pieces of candy into 1,000 goodie bags, handed out more than 1,200 hotdogs and gave approximately 800 of those goodie bags away to the kids,” said Aaron Schappell, Neighborhood Kids Pastor at The Bridge Church. “I love to see the kids having fun, playing games and being excited to see all of the activities we provide. I love to see a parent discover ‘Illuminate’ for the first time.”
The activities and other parts of the night are correlated with the feature children’s movie picked for that year. Schappell and his team of “Managers” brainstorm ideas as early as June or July and then organize the event and all aspect around that movie.
Whether out trick-or-treating, at Halloween parties or at the alternative Halloween celebrations, it is obvious the children (and adults) once again had a great time dressing up and taking part in the festivities from the smiles on their faces.