Cars lined the street around Exhibition Park on Saturday night. Tuning into a local radio station for some spooky tunes, everyone was waiting to take part in the third annual Trunk-or-Treat.
The event is hosted by Bikers Building Bridges with help from the Green and Yellow Group. Families had to register online to get their free ticket, put on their scariest costume and drive through a lineup of sponsors to collect their candy.
“I’m glad it caught on,” said Chris Plumb, president of Bikers Building Bridges. “My birthday is on Halloween, so it’s a good way to celebrate my birthday every year.”
The idea came to the group three years ago after seeing an increase in crime and needles in their community. Bikers Building Bridges wanted to make Halloween safe for young trick-or-treaters.
“We wanted to offer a parking lot where we could clean out the area and make sure it was safe, enclosed and watched by adults,” said Plumb. “And kids could go back to how trick or treating used to be.”
That first year brought out six trunks and a lot of kids.
So the next year, Plumb says they went bigger. Taking over part of Exhibition Park, they turned the event into a drive-thru to make it safer due to the pandemic.
“This year we’ve got 30 trunks. We’ve actually doubled in size since last year. Lots of local businesses here helping us and lots of fun.”
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Michael Gervais is the president of the Green and Yellow Group.
This year, they helped Bikers Building Bridges put on their biggest Trunk-or-Treat yet.
“It’s just a bunch of people that believe in smiles and unity,” said Gervais. “Especially in the last couple of years, it’s more prominent dealing with everything going on with COVID-19.”
Bikers Building Bridges is no stranger to helping out in the community. Plumb said the group was started in honour of his daughter who lived for 17 years with Aicardi syndrome. She passed away a few years ago.
“We started this to be able to fundraise and help to donate back to the community,” he said. “Back to kids, especially with disabilities.”
Plumb said 325 cars registered to take part in the drive-thru. He estimates that to be about 800 costumed kids.
“If the kids see good role models and mentors, they’re going to grow up to be good role models and mentors,” said Plumb. “It’s going to go a long way.”
For the young trick-or-treaters, Saturday’s event also meant a head start on candy collection.
“I like that everybody is handing out free candy,” said 10-year-old Evander Williams, dressed as a shadow in a black morphe suit. “So I get double the amount of candy for Halloween.”
Sisters Izabella and Viktorija Reron came out last year and say it’s grown quite a bit this year.
“I think it’s really cool,” said Izabella. “I like how they did the decorations. They’re pretty spooky, some of them.”
“I like that they do this every year,” said Viktorija. “It’s usually a lot of fun and we get a lot of candy.”
All the kids who spoke with Global News said the fun doesn’t stop on Saturday. They will also be trick-or-treating on Halloween.
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