Trunk-or-Treats beat both weather and safety concerns surrounding the holiday.
CAMILLUS, N.Y. (NCC NEWS) – For those looking to avoid the cold, cars and safety concerns of trick-or-treating, there are other ways to celebrate Halloween. Charlee’s Ice Cream in Camillus is just one of several Central New York businesses who hosted an alternative way to celebrate the holiday.
Although the ice cream shop has only been open for a few years, it’s the third year that they’ve hosted a Halloween event. This year, owner Ben Hussong and his wife, Kristin, organized a Trunk-or-Treat as an easy and safe way for families to celebrate Halloween.
“Having children ourselves, we like to have alternatives for them, especially when they were younger to just regular trick-or-treating where you’re dealing with the cold, rain, weather and cars,” Hussong said.
While Trunk-or-Treating is meant to allow children to stay in the car while volunteers fill their trunks with candy, the unpredictable fall weather impacted this Halloween celebration. The event was moved inside after a morning of rain, but Hussong said the turnout was even better than he expected.
The Hussongs had reached out on social media alerting the neighborhood about the event and looking for small, local businesses to take part. From here, several businesses came out to pass out treats and goodies to children in their costumes.
“They couldn’t be nice enough, they couldn’t contribute enough, it’s just been great,” Hussong said.
One of the many children in attendance was Hussong’s own son, Connor. The 12 year-old said the shop sees a lot of kids during normal business days, but that events like these bring more out.
“I like events like these because I get to see the kids and we get to see their smiles,” Connor said.