From Wednesday’s annual ‘Trunk or Treat’ hosted at the Escalon Covenant Church to the many school-related Halloween-themed parties and harvest festivals, the All Hallows’ Eve observance was front and center this past week.

The first event was the trunk or treat, with cars parked in the lot at Escalon Covenant throwing open their trunks filled with candy, with children able to play games in order to win some treats. Dinner was provided and a magic show was also featured, with the parking lot at the church jammed with costume-clad youngsters eager to get a head start on their trick-or-treating.

On Friday, the rainy weather early had organizers at both Collegeville and Van Allen elementary schools going to a back-up plan to bring everything indoors but skies cleared by early afternoon. That allowed for most of the activities to take place outdoors as originally scheduled and each school site had games, a haunted house, prizes, candy, food, music and pumpkin patches for their students and families.

Van Allen also featured a small ‘farmer’s market’ area with some fresh fall produce and there were specialty sweet treats for sale as well. Kids could win a goldfish at one game, get their face painted, pose for photos with a spooky backdrop, and more.

Most schools in the district had special class parties or activities for students on Monday, Oct. 31 during the school day, with students also having the opportunity to get outside on a dry, but chilly, evening to do the traditional trick-or-treating around the community.