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Date: 10/21/2020
WESTFIELD – Instead of cancelling its fifth annual trunk-or-treat, All Star Dance Center will host a drive through version of the event in its parking lot on Oct. 31 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Kim Starsiak, the owner and director at All Star Dance Center said she began planning the revamped trunk-or-treat back in July.
“I’m excited because I wasn’t sure we were going to be able to do it this year. I started thinking about this back in July. My sister told me there was a church in Granby, CT, that was advertising a drive through trunk-or-treat, and as soon as I read about it, the wheels started spinning,” she said.
With the dance center’s experience with parades earlier this year, Starsiak said it was easy to plan the trunk-or-treat.
“When we were in quarantine, we did several parades for the teachers and so the kids could get their costumes. I was like, ‘Oh, we’re good at this, we know how to do this, this is easy,’ and then it was just a matter of getting some cars together,” she said.
In a typical year, Starsiak said between 200 and 400 children come to the trunk-or-treat, but this year children will be restricted to their cars as they drive by each of the decorated cars in the parking lot collecting goodie bags of candy.
With the new format, Starsiak said the center will follow all the current COVID-19 guidelines.
“We’ll have to be masked; the kids won’t get out of the car. I’ve seen kids buying a bag on a stick, they can stick it out the door and we’ll have as minimal contact as possible. We should be crossing every safety tactic we have to make it as safe as possible,” she said.
Despite keeping the children in their cars, Starsiak said they will still have the annual bike raffle and best decorated car contest.
“We’ll have somebody set up at the entrance and they’ll give you a raffle ticket and a pen. At the end when you exit over by the aquatics center, you will drop your raffle ticket in there. This year we are going to have a contest for the best decorated car, and you will just write it on the ticket,” she said.
Along with the social distancing guidelines, each car will be handing out prepackaged candy to prevent children from grabbing candy from baskets.
Unlike previous years, there will not be a DJ for this year’s trunk-or-treat.
“We will have some music playing but we aren’t going to have a DJ this year. I think that would make the kids want to get out of the car, there’s too much temptation there,” Starsiak said.
Starsiak added that she hopes this year’s trunk or treat will serve as an alternative for families who are worried about trick-or-treating this year.
“I think it’ll be a good alternative for people that don’t want to go trick-or-treating or don’t feel safe going trick-or-treating. And we did it early enough so you can do both,” she said.
While Starsiak said she was happy to be able to continue with the fifth annual trunk-o- treat, she is still sad about the way things are now.
“I cry like daily because the things we normally get to do, we can’t do. Like the PumpkinFest, we get ready for the PumpkinFest and practice all summer long. The games we get to play, and the decorating, and the parents being involved, we didn’t get to do any of that so it just makes me sad. To be able to do this is at least a little bit fulfilling,” she said
Starsiak said that everybody is having a tough time right now because of COVID and she hopes the trunk-or-treat will help alleviate some of that pain.
“To be involved in the community and let them know that we’re here for them, and it may be cliched, but we are all in this together. I think everybody is doing the best that they can,” Starsiak said.