With trick-or-treating proving especially tricky for some this year, Victoria Harbour has lots of treats planned for today.
“After talking to a lot of families, a lot of people were nervous about going trick-or-treating or didn't want to,” said Heather Fitzgerald, who works at the village’s library. “And a lot of people also were weary of hanging out, having lots of people come to the door.”
So for the past couple of weeks, Fitzgerald and fellow Victoria Harbour resident Emily Hadley have been busy collecting candy and other goodies for a large-scale Halloween giveaway and costume party today at a private residence in the village.
Close to 300 children are registered to take part in the event and Fitzgerald expects each child will go home with two large Ziploc bags full of goodies.
Hadley, who is Fitzgerald’s friend and daycare provider to her three-year-old son Harrison, came up with the idea.
“We weren't planning on going trick-or-treating this year either,” Fitzgerald said, noting that Hadley, who has three children, felt the same way.
To make the event happen and ensure it created a safe environment, attendees have all been given time-slots between 11:45 a.m. and 7 p.m. to drop by and show off their costumes, enjoy a short haunted walk and, of course, get some candy.
“We originally expected to get 50 to 100 kids from families that didn't really feel comfortable going to trick-or-treating,” Fitzgerald said. “And it took off. Apparently, there were a lot more that felt that way; even up here where there aren’t a lot of cases.”
And today, Fitzgerald and her husband will start to get some of their basement back since they’ve been piling up boxes of candy there since starting to collect the goodies.
“We have more than 4,000 chocolate bars and over 2,000 suckers,” Fitzgerald said as she gave a cursory assessment at the huge inventory, which also includes plenty of pencils, erasers, Playdoh, chips and other treats. “It covers two tables worth, up to the ceiling.”
But Fitzgerald said the event wouldn’t be possible without the donations from local residents and businesses, including the Old Familiar Restaurant in Coldwater that provided treats and coupons as well as Rooted Cafe in Victoria Harbour that had offered to let them run the event there.
She added: "The community really wowed us with their support to help the kids have a safe fun Halloween!"
