My daughter is a first grader at the Catholic school. Last year our school got a new principal. One thing he has made a strong effort to do is be a part of the community. This year he came up with the idea to have a Trunk or Treat that was open and free to the public. I didn’t know what a Trunk or Treat was until this event. It is where people decorate the trunk of their cars, set up a little game for the kids to play and then give them candy. It is a safe, entertaining, fun way for the kids to go Trick or Treating.
My wife and I volunteered to decorate a trunk, or in this case a trailer. My cattle trailer. Yes, it was washed out. We hung decorations on the walls, and from the ceiling. We had a stuffed black cat with some Jack-o-lanterns in the nose of the trailer. We had a large pair of cat eyes that were lit up after dark and some dry ice for effect.
For the game I set up a maze using pig-tail posts and poly wire. And no it was not hot. The maze started near the back of the trailer and wound its way around to the front of the trailer, which is where they entered and then of course they walked through the trailer and out the back where they got their candy.
In the center of the maze was the rock star of our set up. We had our pony, Mr. Freckles there. Kids love ponies.
This was a last minute idea to volunteer to do this. As the event drew nearer I came up with even more ideas. One would have been to use a mineral feeder to put the candy in, but I didn’t have enough time to clean one after I had thought of it.
Thing is the kids, and many parents loved what we did. Some went through several times. My intent was just to have a fun deal for the kids, but I also ended up having conversations with other parents about raising livestock, and grazing. There was another family there that did a farm themed trunk. They had a little wagon with a bushel of corn in it with some money mixed in. I’m sure they had conversations about harvest. With a little imagination this is a great way to advocate for agriculture!
Congrats Doug!
I would add that one other thing you excel at is raising kids and being a good guy in your community, if this project is any indication. Good work, and happy halloween.
I did not know there was a contest for the best trunk until we bagan setting up. The best trunk award was voted on by the kids and parents that went through. We won with this idea. They estimate that there were over 350 kids that went through that night, many of them went through our maze/trailer more than once.