Summerside in south Edmonton was the place to be on Halloween as a never-ending stream of costumed kids lined the sidewalks, pillowcases in hand.
The community’s busiest street is Grande Boulevard, which has been actively growing its Halloween celebration for the last six years.
Tonya Yuen lives just a few block away and takes her three sons there every year. She said she wants her boys to experience the best Halloween has to offer.
“Grande Boulevard actually has blown up over the past few years. They say it’s like the Candy Cane Lane of Halloween. All the houses are decorated.”
This year, it was more packed than ever before, as around 1,600 little trick-or-treaters knocked on doors.
“This is our fourth year on Grande Boulevard and we didn’t know when we moved here – what we were getting into, but we were thrilled,” said resident Sarah Nychka.
Her family goes all-out when they decorate for Halloween, their favourite holiday. This year, they added a zombie trap, Tim Burton-style scarecrow and flaming propane pumpkins.
“Every year we just add a little bit more. The guys at Spirit Halloween pretty much know me by name now, because I’m there so much,” she joked.
Nychka said she loves the holiday for the costumes – and one other thing…
“Halloween is just that one night you can make-believe whatever you want and of course, there’s candy too, so that’s always exciting!”
In 2015, around 900 children came to the Nychka house to trick or treat – and they expected to surpass that this year.
“This year we’re planning for a little over 1,000. I just did my candy count and I had 2,181. Yes – 2,181 pieces of candy.”
But even that may not be enough for all the trick-or-treaters.
“It can be chaotic at times – you know, when there’s 30 kids on my deck at once and all I’m doing is distributing candy.”
That’s where the Summerside Business Networking candy redistribution centre comes in.
“Last year we ran out of candy around 7 o’clock and some people ran out even earlier,” explained volunteer Tara Danyluk.
The centre is a hub where thousands of pieces of candy, all donated by residents and local businesses, was held for families that need to be re-stocked.
It’s simple – if someone runs out, they call for reinforcements, and a runner brings a few boxes over, free of charge.
“Some people just can’t afford to be spending hundreds of dollars, given the economy right now,” Danyluk explained.
The goal is to make sure no kids are turned away on Halloween.
11-year-old Jacob Lansdell, dressed as Star Wars’ Boba Fett this year, was clear about his goal.
“Going trick or treating and eating all of the candy until my teeth fall out, basically,” he said.
“To get as much candy as possible – at least up to 500 pieces.”