Drive-Thru Trunk or Treat’ a bloodcurdling sensation in Windham

The Sebago Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce,
which co-hosted Saturday's 'Drive-Thru Trunk or
Treat' event with Windham Parks and Recreation,
crafted an equally unique and spooky trunk.
SUBMITTED PHOTO

By Ed Pierce

In a year unlike any other, children unable to go trick or treating during the pandemic found their Halloween spirit and a bit of ghastly fright during Windham’s “Drive-Thru Trunk or Treat” held Oct. 24 at the Windham Mall behind the North Windham Hannaford.

Hosted by Windham Parks and Recreation and the Sebago Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce, the spooktacular “Drive-Thru Trunk or Treat” event drew about 80 pre-registered families and 160 children in eighth grade and below. As each family slowly drove past 18 different and ghoulish trunk hosts, the children received pre-packaged candy and goodies.

According to Sarah Davenport, Windham Parks and Recreation’s Youth and Family Programs Coordinator, the event remained popular in spite social distancing and families having to remain their vehicles because of CDC pandemic restrictions.

“We did have to turn away a few families, as we had already maximized our capacity in order to allow as many families as possible to pre-register,” Davenport said. “We also received very positive feedback from the public, particularly from folks who appreciated the attention to details in planning and observing the CDC precautions in order to host such an event. We look forward to next year with the hope that we will be able to welcome more families and expand on a great Halloween tradition.”

Davenport said all of the trunks were terrific and eerily decorated, but the first-place winners as chosen by volunteer judges were a Haunted House trunk complete with actual haunters, a Haunted Summer Camp with a detailed activity schedule, and Mainely Ticks with a wide variety of Halloween decorations. She said that other favorites included an “It” themed trunk with Pennywise the clown, a carnival trunk, dancing inflatable unicorns and giraffes, and an “RIP sports season” trunk.

“We were very thankful to be able to partner with the Windham Mall in order to host this event and
from our perspective this was an ideal location,” Davenport said. “The trunks had adequate space to decorate and maintain appropriate distance, and the flow of traffic worked very well in this setting. The Windham Mall was a terrific host, offering us plenty of support to make this event successful.”

Linda J. Brooks, Windham Parks and Recreation Department director, said that Windham has hosted “Trunk or Treat” every year since 2017.

“We initiated it as a way to handle the growing number of people that were attending our Halloween party each year,” Brooks said. “Additionally, we recognized that since Windham has its rural areas, there are some families who wanted the benefit of seeing the kids in their costumes, but don’t traditionally get trick-or-treaters at their homes.”

In past years Brooks said that “Trunk or Treat” was just one part of our larger themed “Halloween Adventure” that included costume contests, games, refreshments and “haunted happenings.” But by 2019, the town decided to focus on the “Trunk or Treat” event alone, since it has turned out to be the best way to effectively manage so many participants.

But dealing with COVID-19 concerns and having to limit the size of what has previous been one of the town’s largest community events posed significant challenges.

“We appreciate the way that families followed the requirement to pre-register and attend at a designated time, as well as complied with the need to wear masks and remain at a safe distance,” Davenport said. “Beyond that, the trunk hosts were very creative in distributing candy while trying to keep some distance from the vehicles, which was another change due to the pandemic. The bottom line is that we were able to address these challenges because everyone involved was willing to adapt and follow the necessary precautions, which made all the difference.”

Event co-host the Sebago Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce was humbled to be a part of this year’s “Drive-Thru Trunk or Treat” and the chamber’s Executive Director, Robin Mullins, said participants loved what they experienced.

“The feedback I heard as one of the participating trunks was that people were appreciative that we had the event,” Mullins said. “With so many events getting cancelled due to COVID-19, people were happy to have something safe and fun for them to do with their kids.”

Mullins said she was impressed by how much support there was in the community for this event.

“For me the biggest take away was how the community came together to be there for one another,” she said. “Trunks were assembled by businesses, nonprofits, Windham Fire and Rescue and families in the community. It was so great to see the participation from the trunks and the appreciation from the community members who attended.”

Mullins said she wanted to thank Brooks and her team at Windham Parks and Recreation for allowing the Sebago Lakes Region Chamber to partner with them for the event.

“Even though we didn’t win a prize for best trunk and watch out, next year we’ll be bigger and better, we still had a fantastic time and look forward to Trunk or Treat 2021,” Mullins said.

Davenport said that one thing she’ll take away from this experience is that even in challenging and unusual times, the town of Windham is able together to create special memories and celebrations.

“We are very fortunate to have a supportive community, and it was just very clear throughout this process that people are willing to be flexible and understanding,” she said. “I always knew that Windham was a great community, but it was just underscored during all of the planning and preparation as well as during the actual Trunk or Treat itself.”

She thanked Mullins and the Sebago Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce for co-hosting and helping Windham Parks and Recreation to reimagine Trunk or Treat in the time of COVID-19.

“We would also like to thank the businesses who donated prizes for trunk hosts: Applebee’s in North Windham, Smitty’s in North Windham, and Spare Time in Portland,” Davenport said. “And we would like to thank all of the volunteers, local businesses, community organizations, and families who hosted trunks, as we couldn’t have Trunk or Treat without them.”

Submissions for the Windham Halloween Costume Contest will be judged by members of the Lions Club on Friday, and Davenport said Windham Parks and Recreation will be posting the winners on its website and social media.

“We have some great entries, and we can’t wait to share them with everyone,” Davenport said. “We want to thank Dairy Queen in North Windham for donating the costume contest prizes.” <

 

Summer recreation program for children still popular in Windham

A total of 115 children are participating in
the Summer Kids' Club recreation program
at three different locations this summer in Windham.
SUBMITTED PHOTO

By Elizabeth Richards

Windham Parks and Recreation has continued to offer summer programming even in the face of the coronavirus pandemic through their Summer Kids’ Club and Summer Track programs.

Sarah Davenport, Recreation Coordinator for Windham Parks and Recreation, said the Summer Kids’ Club has a significantly different structure than the summer day camp program of prior years.

In late June, the program opened to students entering first grade through eighth grade.

There are three programs running concurrently, each with a maximum of 40 children.  A total of 115 kids are participating in the Summer Kids’ Club this summer in Windham.

Two of the three programs are housed in separate wings of Windham Middle School, with the third at Windham High School. 

Davenport said the school district has been very helpful in facilitating appropriate spaces, as well as new sanitizing and disinfecting procedures.

“It’s been really great to work with them on that,” she said.

Within each program, kids are assigned to a group of 8 to 10 children with two or three counselors that they rotate through activities with and remain with for the entire summer.

“What’s great about that is the relationships that the kids get to build with each other and the counselors are maybe a little bit deeper and more meaningful than if you’re in a group of 50 kids and you’re changing activities all the time,” Davenport said.

Programming includes many traditional camp activities, such as arts and crafts, board games, and plenty of outdoor time. Though summer camp has always included a lot of outside time, Davenport said they’re being even more intentional about that now, incorporating more nature based and outdoors activities.

“Our oldest kids have really enjoyed being in the woods down near the high school cross country trails,” she said. “I’ve heard them talking about building forts, or trying to identify plants, and going on nature hikes and playing nature games in the woods, which is pretty great.”

In previous years, field trips happened twice a week to places like Funtown, the Maine Wildlife Park, and Seacoast Adventure Center.  This summer, field trips were not an option, because many places weren’t open initially, and because of transportation challenges.

The students going into middle school have begun participating in an outreach program with the Presumpscot Regional Land Trust, going to the Black Brook Preserve to do both community service and educational programs.  This is the second summer that they’ve worked with the Land Trust, Davenport said.

“It’s great to continue that partnership even if it looks a little bit different than it has in the past,” she said.

Though certain aspects of the summer programs cost more this year, such as staffing and providing individual activity bags to children, not having the cost of field trips has balanced things out.

At the beginning of the program, kids were provided with age appropriate activity bags that included playdough and art supplies that are frequently touched and non-consumable. Consumable supplies that are only used once, like plastic lacing for bracelets or paint, are still shared. Once these supplies are removed from the common stock, they are not returned after use.

Davenport said they haven’t experienced major challenges, but they’ve had to become accustomed to the culture shift of what it looks like to provide a fun day for children while following social distancing, masking and other health protocols.  Children are not required to wear face coverings if they maintain six feet of space between themselves and others. She said those who find face coverings a challenge have become good at communicating around maintaining that distance.

Success depends on helping kids and staff understand the importance of why it’s necessary and that “we’re all taking care of each other,” Davenport said.

The program was provided clear guidance written specifically for day camps and summer recreation programs to help them set up the program, she said.  In addition to social distancing, masking, sanitizing and hygiene practices, drop off and pick up are curbside and all children and staff have temperature checks in the morning and are asked some basic screening questions.

“Parents have been really good about understanding if kids need to stay home because they’re showing some symptoms. They’ve been good about doing that and notifying us,” Davenport said.

The Summer Track program is a five-week, skills-based program this summer, which looks quite a bit different than it has in previous years.  There is no inter-team competition or travel involved this year.

“Kids are having the opportunity to try lots of track and some field events to develop their skills and compete against themselves,” Davenport said.

The program received such positive response that they ended up with two sessions to stay under the 50-person group maximum.

“We feel really fortunate and pleased that we were able to do this. I know that there are communities who, due to various restrictions in the facilities they were using, just weren’t able to offer any kind of a summer rec program,” Davenport said.  “I don’t think we really could have done it without the district being so open and willing to partner with us and without the staff. We have some really great counselors and some really great administrative and leadership staff who are committed to making this happen in a way that’s safe, and healthy, and fun.”

Windham Parks and Recreation is not accepting new registrations for summer programming at this point in the summer. <