Spooky sights drew near Oct. 23, but there was no reason to fear, as families filtered inside the Geauga County Safety Center for a ghastly good time at the fourth annual Trunk-or-Treat event.
Spooky sights drew near Oct. 23, but there was no reason to fear, as families filtered inside the Geauga County Safety Center for a ghastly good time at the fourth annual Trunk-or-Treat event.
“It’s nice to know that we can provide a very safe environment for kids to go out and trick-or-treat and have a good time,” Geauga County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Thomas Rowan said.
More than 1,300 children accompanied by families participated in the festivities, made possible by nonprofit groups, area safety forces, Geauga County businesses and GCSO employees.
Besides all the costumes, decorations and traditional spooky vibes, Rogish Farms, of Chester Township, added to the Halloween ambiance by giving out more than 850 mini pumpkins.
“Our mini pumpkins are becoming a crowd favorite, so we will keep doing this every year,” Amy Rogish said.
Families and friends gathered nearby in costume, posing for photos next to the farm’s 1949 Ford farm truck.
“We enjoy participating in the Trunk-or-Treat every year at the sheriff’s office,” Bob Rogish said. “Big reason is that Sheriff (Scott) Hildenbrand and his staff are such great people. A lot of hard work goes into putting this event on every year. We are happy to help be a part of a safe environment for children to go trick-or-treating.”
Mission440 seemingly won the popular vote, having passed out the greatest number of bags of Kettle corn — the sweet aroma welcomed trick-or-treaters at one of the first booths.
“Every year, it gets bigger and better,” said Ben Reed, of The Mission440. “We love seeing all of the smiling faces. We are so happy and grateful to serve such a wonderful community. We will be back next year with more Kettle corn.”
Lt. James Jonovich said Trunk-or-Treat is by far his favorite work event.
“It’s great to see so many Geauga County families out having fun and interacting with a wide array of county agencies, businesses and groups,” Jonovich said. “It’s a lot of fun to witness the excitement of the kids as they get ‘hands on’ experience with some of our techniques, equipment and apparatus. This event offers a fun, free and secure Halloween activity for the whole family. I know my children certainly enjoy this event as much as I do.”
Michael Kleinknecht’s family, of Chardon, has gone all four years.
“The sheriff’s office does such a wonderful job organizing this event with numerous Geauga County businesses and local governmental agencies,” Kleinknecht said. “We plan on attending for years to come.”
His 9-year-old son, Jace, always looks forward to “earning” a candy bar at the SWAT truck, he said.
Last Wednesday marked Fellowship City Church’s Margo Most’s first time participating in the event, she said, as she swirled around, passing out candy and stickers.
“Being part of Trunk-or-Treat was a great experience,” Most said. “It was encouraging to see so many families participating and having fun together. Our church vision is to live for more faith, family and service, so being a part of trunk-or-treat and seeing people serving others, being generous and watching families spending time together aligned with our vision and created a really encouraging environment.
“An added bonus was seeing how many kids were so polite,” she added. “As a church, we want to make sure that everyone knows that they matter to God and to others, which is why, in addition to passing out about 100 pounds of candy, we also gave out roughly 1,500 ‘You Matter’ sticker packs.”
The group is already discussing what their booth will look like next year, and what creative and positive ways they, as a church, could be an encouragement to everyone who participates.
“It’s always a good time for the sheriff’s office to have positive interaction with families and children,” Rowan addeed. “So many times, people’s interaction with law enforcement is generally when there’s some sort of a crisis and that can negatively affect the way that people view law enforcement, so any opportunity we have to have this type of event where it promotes positive interactions with the sheriff’s office is a great experience.”
Geauga County Sheriff Scott Hildenbrand thanked GCSO Deputy Jackie Tryon and others who put a great amount of time and effort into arranging the annual event.
“I am blessed to have so many dedicated employees that care about this county,” Hildenbrand said. “I would like to thank everyone that participated to make the experience the best we can for the kids. Special thank you to Mark Horvath (Dumpster Bandit) who provides all the trash cans and free hotdogs. We had great weather and another terrific crowd.”
