Trunk or treating, a safe alternative on Halloween night, seeing its popularity grow

Oct. 31—SCARBOROUGH — Super heroes, vampires, Mario characters, witches and oh so many princesses visited an assisted living community in Scarborough on Sunday to do some "trunk or treating" in the parking lot.

With the sun shining and no cars driving by, costumed children were given candy and other treats handed out from the parked vehicles decked out with spooky or fantasy decorations at The Enclave of Scarborough.

Trunk or treating offers an alternative to having costumed kids walking door-to-door at night in search of treats. It has been around for years, but it's popularity soared during the pandemic and has remained that way.

Residents were all smiles, greeting and handing out candy to children, many of whose parents were dressed up for Halloween as well.

Kally Lieu of Scarborough brought one princess in pink (daughter Kianna, 4), and two dinosaurs (nephews Kashton, 6, and Karson Mach, 7) to the event. "It's so fun. They love to go around and see the different cars and trucks," Lieu said.

For some families, trunk or treating just adds to the Halloween fun. Lieu said the kids will also all go out and trick or treat Monday night.

Brianna Berube of Lewiston, dressed as a slithering, Quidditch-playing Harry Potter character, said for her, trunk or treating will take the place of knocking on doors of people they don't know.

"We usually go trick or treating, but this year we're just doing the trunk or treating," Berube said. "We're not going to go trick or treating at night." She said she would be concerned about her daughter's safety walking on streets after dark. "We definitely feel more comfortable with this kind of environment rather than knocking on doors," she said.

Her daughter, Amelia Rose Berube, 6, wore a black wig with stripes of white and a flowing, spooky gown. "I'm a vampire bat," she said. They'll visit a few houses Monday night, but not the kind of community-wide trick or treating she and other parents used to do.

Older people who live at the Enclave said they enjoyed seeing children for Halloween. This is the second trunk-or-treat event the senior community has hosted.

"We love to connect with the general community as much as we can. This is a way to give back," said Caitlin Marsanskis, executive director of the Enclave.

"(The residents) absolutely love children and dogs," she said. "There's something about bringing different generations together, to be able to bring the kids out in costumes. The residents are having a blast."

As she spoke a child passed by dressed as Harry Potter. "Happy Halloween," she said to the boy, and offered him some candy.

Marsanskis was dressed as the white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland. "I'm always late," she joked. Her mother was dressed as Alice.

The vehicles in the parking lot were manned by Enclave residents and staff, businesspeople, friends and relatives.

Alan Hawkes of Standish and his wife, Bonnie, a resident, gave out Butterfingers from their trunk. "I like to give out the good stuff," he said, wearing an orange sweatshirt.

Seeing so many children in Halloween garb was a treat, his wife said. "I love to see the kids."

Trunk or treating is safer, he said. "Kids are not going to get run over in the dark."

A quick look at social media posts showed similar events over the weekend and Monday throughout Maine, including in South Portland, Auburn, Gardiner, Bucksport, Lebanon, Orono, Bangor, Winslow, Newburgh, Lee, Harrison and other communities.

On Friday the Portland Police Department offered trunk or treating in six neighborhoods with officers handing out candy from police cruisers. It was well attended, said Maj. Robert Martin, with children costumed as super heroes, cowboys and police officers.

For children who trick or treat Monday night, police recommend they stay in neighborhoods that are familiar to them. To minimize the risk of motorists not seeing children trick or treating after dark, Martin recommends children wear some kind of reflective clothing and carry flashlights.