Join Operation Ceasefire and the Fayetteville SwampDogs tomorrow night for the Third Annual “Trunk or Treat at the Swamp,” from 5 p.m. through 7 p.m. at the J.P. Riddle Stadium located on 2823 Legion Road.
Families are invited to enjoy trick-or-treat a little early with many decorated vehicles and tons of candy! The Fayetteville Police Department will be on site for the fun with a decorated mobile unit for children to visit. After the little superheroes, princesses, transformers and more are finished collecting candy, the Operation Ceasefire Movie will begin at dusk!
The Operation Ceasefire movie being shown is Monsters -vs- Aliens, rated PG-13. Fun-Go and Friends will be on hand to welcome all the boys and ghouls! This is a free event, open to the public.
For more information about this event, please visit www.goswampdogs.com or call 426-5900.
Halloween Q&A
Q. I see a lot of churches have “trunk-or-treat” events this time of year. What is “trunk-or-treat”?
A. Trunk-or-treating is a sort of Halloween tailgating in which people gather in a school or church parking lot to hand out treats from the backs of their vehicles.
A 2006 story in the New York Times about the growing popularity of trunk-or-treat quoted 6-year-old expert Keifer Convertino: “You go trick-or-treating when you go to people’s houses to get candy. You go trunk-or-treating when you go to people’s cars to get candy, and that’s much better because you can go around the cars a million dozen times and you don’t even get tired.”
Many parents and churches embrace trunk-or-treating as a safer alternative to going door-to-door.
Q. Where did the tradition of going door to door for candy on Halloween originate? – J.T.
A. The ancient Celts in Ireland believed that the souls of the dead walked freely on Oct. 31. But the souls weren’t trick or treating. The tradition of asking for treats dates back to the “All Souls’ Day” parades in England, during which the poor would beg for food. Families would hand out pastries called “soul cakes” in return for their promise to pray for the family’s dead relatives. Historians date this practice to the eighth and ninth centuries. Other cultures have similar rituals linking food to the dead, but the English tradition is probably the one with the most direct line to the modern custom of trick-or-treating in the United States, as English settlers brought the custom to the New World.
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Check out the lists below for the most popular searched costume choices on Yahoo!
The top searched costumes include:
1. Joker Costume
2. Fairy Costume
3. Pirate Costume
4. Flapper Costume
5. Witch Costume
6. Tinkerbell Costume
7. Catwoman Costume
8. Playboy Bunny Costume
9. Indiana Jones Costume
10. Red Riding Hood Costume
The top searched political masks include:
1. Sarah Palin
2. Barack Obama
3. John McCain
4. Ronald Reagan
5. Bill Clinton
6. Richard Nixon
7. George Bush
8. Joe Biden
9. Michelle Obama
10. Arnold Schwarzenegger
11. Hillary Clinton
12. Abraham Lincoln
The top baby/infant/toddler costumes include:
1. Lion
2. Monkey
3. Ladybug
4. Pirate
5. Minnie Mouse
6. Butterfly
7. Bumblebee
8. Fairy
9. Tinkerbell
10. Elvis
The top searched dog costumes include:
1. Hot Dog Costumes for Dogs
1. Bumble Bee Dog Costume
2. Lion Dog Costume
3. Yoda Dog Costumes
4. Dog Rider Costume
5. Batman Dog Costumes
6. Headless Horseman Dog Costume
7. Elvis Dog costume
8. Tinkerbell Dog Costumes
9. Star Wars Dog Costumes
Thinking about not passing out Halloween candy to trick-or-treaters this year? There are several “treat” ideas that do not cause cavities and are fun for children with diabetes. Check out Halloween candy alternatives.
According to Safe Kids U.S.A., children are more than two times more likely to die in pedestrian accidents on Halloween than any other day of the year. In 2007, North Carolina saw 22 pedestrian deaths.
While pedestrian hazards pose the biggest threat to children on Halloween, burn injuries remain a concern as families use candles to light jack-o-lanterns and luminaries.
For a safe Halloween follow these safety tips:
Safe driving tips:
• Slow down in residential neighborhoods.
• Obey all traffic signs and signals.
• Watch for children walking in the street or on medians and curbs.
• Enter and exit driveways and alleys slowly and carefully.
• Remember — popular trick-or-treating hours are during the typical rush-hour period, between 5:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
• Remember that costumes can limit children’s visibility so they may not see your vehicle.
• Drive with your full headlights on to increase your visibility and spot children from greater distances.
Pedestrian safety tips:
• Never let children under age 10 go trick-or-treating or cross the street without adult supervision.
• Decorate costumes, bags and sacks with retro-reflective tape and stickers. Use a flashlight or glow stick to increase visibility to drivers.
• Use costumes that are light or bright enough to make children more visible at night, and make sure they are flame-retardant.
• Wear well-fitting, sturdy shoes to prevent trips and falls.
• Stop at all street corners before crossing; cross streets only at intersections and crosswalks.
• Look left, right and left again before crossing the street; walk-don’t run, when crossing streets.
• Never dart out into a street or cross between parked cars.
Fire safety tips:
• Costumes that are snug or form-fitting are less likely to come into contact with ignition sources.
• Look for labels that indicate the costume is made of flame-resistant materials.
• If you are making costumes, choose polyester or nylon fabrics for greater flame resistance. Costumes made from cotton, rayon, acetate or their blends are inherently more flammable.
• Supervise children as they go trick or treating, taking special care to avoid lit candles and jack-o-lanterns, high heat or flaming decorations.
• If a costume does catch fire, remember to “Stop, Drop and Roll.”
• When you decorate for Halloween, use battery operated or electric lights that have been tested for safety by a recognized testing laboratory. Check each set of lights, new or old, for damage. Throw out damaged sets.
• Do not overload extension cords.
For more information about Safe Kids North Carolina, visit www.ncsafekids.org
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, N.C.–The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office is asking parents and children to take part in a Halloween Trick-or-Treating curfew.
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Unlike some communities, the Town of Cary does not dictate when kids go trick or treating; since Halloween is always on October 31, that’s the day most families in Cary go door-to-door in costumes for candy and fun.
In addition to or instead of going door-to-door, families may want to take children to the Town of Cary’s annual Safe N Sane Halloween Celebration for kids 15 and under, which will be held on Friday, October 31 from 5:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. at the Cary Towne Center Mall.
Also, the Town’s Haunted House will be held on Saturday, October 25 from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m. at Herbert C. Young Community Center, 101 Wilkinson Ave. For more information on these or other activities in October, call the Town of Cary’s Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Resources Department at (919) 469-4061 or click here.