ORANGE, NJ — The all-day rain may have washed out the outdoor festivities, but Orange had other plans and Lincoln Avenue Elementary School celebrated by holding its Trunk-or-Treat annual Halloween Festival inside its gymnasium on Thursday, Oct. 31.
City officials, small businesses, school staff, parents and children in costumes that ranged from scary to cute kicked off the event at 5 p.m. The festival included an oversized bouncy house, popcorn, face painting and Halloween music, and vendors who set up shop with small stations to give out candy, goodie bags and information about their organizations.
Lisa Pace, the head caregiver for DAAB Kids, was at the event to promote the new preschool.
“We’re a new preschool and we’ve just opened Sept. 9. Everything’s brand new,” Pace told the Record-Transcript at the event on Thursday, Oct. 31. “We’re advertising here tonight at the Halloween Trunk-or-Treat. Right now, we have two children enrolled, and the school holds up to 28 children. We’re hoping to get some advertisements out there, so we can get more kids enrolled.”
Along with Pace was her colleague, DAAB Kids Director Cheryl Vogel and Newark schools Vice Principal Akil Boucaud.
“DAAB Kids is a day care that just opened about a month ago,” Boucard said at the event. “Since I’m from the community, I wanted to provide child care that’s affordable, safe and clean for the city of Orange, where I was born and raised. Tonight, we’re here to kind of showcase the daycare and let the community know that we’re here and give kids some candy.”
“Tonight, I’m helping out with the popcorn stand and I’m volunteering,” said Orange High School student Fatimah Camarah at the festival. “I feel excited about tonight’s event.”
“So, tonight, I’m here popping some popcorn for the kiddies to enjoy as a Halloween treat,” said Jontae Claiborn, who was overseeing the popcorn stand, at the event. “I’m really excited and feeling a little spooky for tonight’s Halloween festival.”
Wali Burks, 2, terrorized and haunted guests at the Trunk-or-Treat festival dressed as Chucky, the scary, red-headed doll inspired from the 1988 horror film “Child’s Play.” Wielding a bloody knife, face stitching and crazy hair, Wali was a favorite of the night.
But not every costume was quite as frightening.
In line for popcorn and ready to have a good time for the evening were 2-year-old siblings Tiffany and Brittney Ferguson, dressed as cute ladybugs.
The public was also educated at the festival.
“We’re here to support the community for Halloween,” Michael Rosenblut, president of Bell Medical Transport of Orange, told the Record-Transcript at the event. “We want to wish all of our local kids a wonderful Halloween and a safe holiday. We have over here set up with plenty of candy and our crew members.”
Instead of a table, Bell Medical Transport managed to attract Halloween goers with a stretcher as the main attraction.
When asked why he decided to bring a stretcher and used the medical prop instead of a table, Rosenblut said: “It’s unique. We want kids to be safe. We want children to understand that the ambulance is your friend when you need us, so we have all our candy set up and on display to show and give out to the kids.”
“Here at Lincoln Avenue School, we’re having an Orange recreation event,” Lincoln Avenue Elementary School teacher Genora Jenkins said while painting children’s faces at the festival. “The city of Orange is providing festival candies and Halloween trick-or-treating. I love what’s happening here tonight. I love to see the children come together and they look like they’re having a wonderful time.”
“I’m here helping with the event that the mayor provides for the kids in the community,” Orange Cultural Affairs Coordinator Campanella Godfrey said. “I feel great about this event because we’re giving back to the community. The mayor loves to see the kids smile. He loves to give back to the community and he loves to help in general.”
“I brought my 9-year-old and my 6-year-old sons for some safe Halloween fun,” South Ward Councilwoman Jamie Summers-Johnson told the Record-Transcript at the event on Thursday, Oct. 31. “It was supposed to be outside, but thank God Lincoln Avenue School opened up for us and there are a lot of community people here and I think this is amazing.”
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