Hundreds take part in Herald trunk-or-treat event

ALBANY — They came from all over the city — witches, princesses, Ninja warriors, Cats in Hats, axe-wielding demons, skeletons, policemen, Ninja Turtles, Spider-men, demon fearleaders, all kinds of super heroes and one spot-on, dead-letter-perfect miniature Erkle clone.

Before the witching hour in the West Broad Avenue parking lot adjacent to The Albany Herald ended Halloween evening, hundreds of trick-or-treaters — most with parents in tow — had filled their goodie bags with little cuties, books, light necklaces, and — oh yeah — candy. Lots and lots of candy.

Organized for The Albany Herald by Tara Fletcher, the newspaper’s first Halloween Trunk-or-Treat event was a resounding success beyond pretty much anyone’s imagination.

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“The leadership team at The Herald is looking for more and more community involvement, and there’s no better way to get involved than to do something for the kids in the community,” Fletcher said. “We’re very appreciative that officers from the Albany Police Department were on hand to support the event, and we were blown away by the number of kids — and families — that came out.”

Along with APD officers Morency and Warner, who handed out treats and police stickers, six other groups of volunteers set up their decorated vehicles as candy stations for the treat-hungry horde that descended on the downtown venue.

Among those who handed out treats were Lizeth Gomez and Neidi Diaz.

“We’d never done anything like this before, so we decided to get involved after we read about it,” Gomez said. “It was really a fun experience.”

Added Diaz: “I couldn’t believe all these kids came out. We had a great time being part of this.”

With many doubters warning that such a first-time event might not have registered in the community, Fletcher said she never doubted. In fact, before decorating trunksSaturday, she went to several stores before the event,.buying double the amount of candy to give out.

“I just had a feeling,” she said. “I wanted us to be prepared.”

Even with the additional goodies, all trunks (and one van) previously loaded with candy — as well as dozens of children’s books and other treats — were gone 20 minutes before the trunk-or-treat was scheduled to end.

But even when the candy, books and other treats ran out, there were still nothing but smiles all around.

“This was wonderful,” one mom said as she led her little dragonfly princess away, her goodie bag bulging with treats. “The city needs to have more things like this for families. Everyone was so nice; we loved it.”