TOWN OF DEWITT – For the second year in a row, the DeWitt Community Church provided children a chance to dress up in their costumes and go trick-or-treating a week ahead of Halloween.

From 12:30 to 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 24, the church at 3600 Erie Blvd. East hosted a Trunk or Treat event in its rear parking lot, keeping up a trend that has seen people across the country decorate the backs of their cars and come together in a singular location to hand out pieces of candy.

“We first started it last year right in the middle of the pandemic because we couldn’t do a lot of things in the building, so this is one of the ideas we had for something that could be outdoors,” said senior minister Alan Rudnick.

The open trunks of multiple cars were covered in fake cobwebs, while one was a pretend self-serve Starbucks barista counter and another featured a cut-out of a shark’s mouth that was full of sweets.

The church’s ministers and pastors made sure to have the event on Oct. 24 to avoid scheduling conflicts with festivities taking place the day of Halloween.

They also wanted to hold the event on a day off for parents in a time slot coming soon after the conclusion of one of the church’s worship services, knowing that members of the congregation would already be in the vicinity and all set to partake in the fun.

Since some of the younger children, like those in the four-to-five age range, would be prevented from both going out at night past their bedtimes and walking miles from neighborhood to neighborhood to trick-or-treat, the daytime hours suited them as well, Rudnick said.

Rudnick said he would like to continue holding the Trunk or Treat events in years to come regardless of what the COVID situation looks like next Halloween.