Spooky fun for tamariki
| Published date | 08 November 2023 |
| Author | Alyssa Smith |
| Publication title | Stratford Press |
Volunteers manned the usually empty buildings in the village, giving out candy to the kids as they knocked at the door. Volunteer Jon Palmer says the number of children turning up to enjoy the fun exceeded his expectations.
“We had people travel from Hāwera and Ōpunake to attend. This was our first year hosting it and we’d like to apologise for the queuing time. We know what to expect next year so we can ensure we have multiple volunteers at the front to let people in.”
He says students from Stratford High School and members of the Stratford Pipe Band helped on the evening.
“The school students handed out lollies and the pipe band members cooked the sausages. We sold 500 sausages and dished out lots of lollies on the night. We’d like to thank all the volunteers who came and helped us.”
Ruby Brookland, 11, dressed as the Grim Reaper and enjoyed the authentic trick-or-treating experience.
“I had a lot of fun going from house to house and getting some lollies.”
About 500 children wearing their best hats attended MountainView Vineyard Church’s Light Party, which the group describes as a family-friendly alternative to Halloween.
Corrina Sheed, who runs MountainView Vineyard Church with her husband John, says she was impressed with the hat designs.
“The hats were incredible. So many people put in a lot of effort. There was plenty of fun on the night with games, 45kg worth of candy and 500 sausages and drinks served.”
Mackenzie Chapman, 5, and her sister Bella, 3, made hats for the party. Mackenzie says dinosaurs are her favourite animal, so she decided to put them on a hat.
“It was fun to make. Bella’s hat had butterflies, spiders and insects on it.”
Meanwhile, a range of witches, skeletons, superheroes, scary movie characters and all kinds of other costumes was on show as children enjoyed visiting houses and businesses that had signed up for Stratford’s Halloween Trail.
Co-organiser Kylee Lawrence says over 20 places featured in this year’s trail.
“As usual, the community embraced the concept of giving and being kind to the many children in the community, the children appreciate it so much. Small towns are the best.”
Kylee says this is the third year of the trail.
“In 2020, a lot of fun for kids was gone so we thought it would be perfect for them to...
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