School offers Halloween alternative

By TIFFANNIE BOND

VIEW STAFF WRITER

Instead of trick-or-treating from house to house this Halloween, children from Newton Elementary School gathered their candy from haunted cars, trucks and vans parked on their school's playground.

While goblins, Power Puff Girls and Pokemon characters had a good time rushing from vehicle to vehicle, the parents behind the masks enjoyed spending time with their kids.

"We dress up when we take our kids trick or treating," said Laurie Goodman, parent of a second-grader. "I guess I'm just a big kid."

In its second year, the event began as a last-minute addition to the school's family activities and has become one of the most anticipated.

"It was thrown at us," said Barb Ferraro, Newton Elementary Parent Teacher Association president. "It was such a success we had to do it again. Every year you try stuff and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't."

The fun quickly turned into many family's sole trick-or-treating activity, which to some parents is safer than allowing their children to gather their candy the old-fashioned way.

"Some people aren't lucky enough to have a safe neighborhood to trick or treat in," Ferraro said. "This is our little world."

The controlled environment also allowed the kids to roam freely -- and maximize their candy-grabbing opportunities.

"If you look at all these cars, each one is a house," said parent Kirk Cluff. "They can get more done in less amount of time."

Laura Pavlowski believes it is an easy way to spend more time with her son Brandon, who began kindergarten this year.

"It was hard to let him go to school in the beginning," Pavlowski said. "To see that he's happy and not getting in trouble, it keeps me at ease."

Making the school year enjoyable keeps the children interested and more eager to learn.

"I want to make sure she realizes school is important and has fun at it," Goodman said.

May Jones decorated her pick-up truck with a dirt grave, flying bat and ghoulish hand to add to the flair of the event.

Jones said: "I had more fun doing this than they did."