Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
White Plains 1st Ward, “Trunk-or-Treat” in their church
parking lot on Halloween.

Trunk-or-Treat is now a Halloween staple all over the United States.  Locally, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in White Plains has held Trunk-or-Treat events almost annually for nearly a decade. 

An adaptation of the traditional neighborhood Trick-or-Treat, this event brings members of the church together in the church’s parking lot to decorate the hatchbacks and trunks of their automobiles.  Members of the congregation’s Boy Scout troop direct traffic.  Parents attend their children on what would otherwise be a normal round of trick-or-treating. 

Parents at the event told The Bay Net that they like Trunk-or-Treat for the peace of mind it affords them.  The church parking lot was full of other families that generally knew and trusted each other.  The children simply liked the chance to dress up, be silly and rake in the candy with lots of friends around them.

“We went because my kids wanted to.  They really like it,” said Brooke, mother of three. 

In an age when the police, as a matter of routine, make their x-ray machines at the county courthouse available to parents as a screening tool for their children’s Halloween candy, Trunk-or-Treat’s artificially created “neighborhood” of people you trust seems a welcome safety measure. 

Churches all over the county held Trunk-or-Treat style events this year.  The Dorchester neighborhood in Waldorf even sponsored one in the parking lot of the neighborhood’s community center.

This Halloween marked the start of an aggressively enforced public safety plan from the Charles County Sheriff’s Office.  Detectives spent much of last Wednesday visiting the homes of registered child sex offenders to remind them to comply with Maryland Parole and Probation requirements that included posting “No Candy” signs and turning off lights during trick-or-treating hours.  According to the Sheriff’s Office, the detectives reached all registered area offenders before 5 p.m., trick-or-treat hours ran from 6 – 8 p.m.

“Overall, despite a few minor instances of property destruction, Halloween was celebrated safely in Charles County,” said Sheriff Rex Coffey in a statement to The Bay Net.   

The Sheriff stated that these police efforts were a “prelude to our holiday safety plan”, which begins as Thanksgiving nears.  

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