I live in Salt Lake County. In a kid friendly neighborhood. We had 14 kids come to our door tonight.Oodles of candy left over. Over the last ten years in this house, it has dwindled every year. This one was the lowest turnout ever. It is chilly, too.

There are 4 mormon churches close by and we have gotten flyers about the trunk or treat activities.

So, are parents scared to go with or send their children into the neighborhood to trick or treat now? Is this a good thing?

I never heard of it before I came to this board. But I know of some nearby organizations holding "trunk or treat" activities now. Perhaps it has spread. I went outside around 6:30 P.M. and only saw one family out and about in the neighborhood. The weather hasn't been great today, but usually there are a number of families and kids making the rounds.

well OPie ~


here in the U.S.American South ~


most of the christian churches do a "trunk / treat" thingy ~


meanwhile ~



the mormon church parking lot is dark and empty ~

A number of churches here in central NM are doing it, too. We only had four kids at our house. (But then, our house is at the far end of a cul-de-sac, and none of our immediate neighbors had their porch lights on.)

I was very disappointed. I love to see the little ones in their costumes. One cute little guy asked if any of the candy had peanuts in it, as he had a peanut allergy. I told him that the Reese's pieces had peanut butter in it, and gave him a mini-Three Musketeers bar instead, in case he wasn't allowed to have the Reese's. He was delighted.

It was pretty cold here, mid-30's, so that might have been part of the reason for there being so few kids.

My son promised to bring his daughters over, within a few days, and we will have plenty of goodies to share with them. Their mother would not let them go trick-or-treating because of homework issues. I guess that is responsible parenting, but I would have loved to see them.

I think other groups do it to. I grew up in texas so there were hardly any Mormons, We went house to house, It was very fun.

I do remember the Mormon church having a Halloween celebration inside the church. I was very young. It was not a trunk or treat. There was set up in each classroom some haunted houses and fake blood and bodies. and they had a dry ice kettle with some really good drink. There were some games to play like carnival games and some really good treats and prizes. This took place in the 1980's in texas, so the kitchen inside of the church was still able to be used. now I think using the kitchen is forbidden.

We had maybe 10 people last night, including adults(who we treated too), all Latino neighbors. A very quiet night.

One parent mentioned receiving a flyer taped to their door, announcing the local trunk or treat. The sad and frustrating thing was that two times were listed, the earlier one for Ward members and a later one for NONMEMBERS. You guessed it, things basically ended when it was time for the nonmembers to come. Everybody was packing up and leaving. Discrimination at its finest? I live in Salt Lake County and can't help but feel very angry and disappointed about this. Not only because of the apparent actions of the organizers but for the little kids growing up here. We hear talk about loving neighbors, including others, etc. Yeah, right. My wife and I have lived here for years and are ready to leave.

I am wondering and perhaps someone can help me out here. Is there some direction they follow when planning trunk or treat events, or was this just misguided effort? Like I said, I am angry, frustrated and sad about this because the us vs. them divide sure seems painfully obvious with things like this. We gave the little ones lots of extra candy to help their holiday and hope their night was better because of it.

It's definitely not only a Mormon thing. My niece's Catholic school has been holding a Trunk or Treat for many years. However, they hold it during the school day when Halloween falls on a weekday--it's not a night-time substitute for trick-or-treating. I attended my TBM neihbor's Trunk or Treat at her ward building a few years ago when our kids were younger, but that was on a different night than Halloween, so it wasn't a trick-or-treat substitute, either. I only know of one church in this area (a friend's Presbyterian congregation) which holds a Trunk or Treat specifically as a trick-or-treating alternative for Halloween. To be fair, though, they advertise it, and families from outside the church are very welcome to attend also.

I do agree with Memenomoinut that it's sad when a Trunk or Treat serves to isolate one group of kids from others.

The bishop brought his 2-1/2 year old to my house. I only had some neighbors and, since my dogs were constantly at the door (my doorbell is off as my last dog had a heart condition and he'd bark and bark at the doorbell, so I turned it off and haven't turned it back on). Anyway, I couldn't find one of my dogs for a few minutes and I always freak out. I thought he got out.

So, I took the bowl of candy except most of the chocolate stuff to keep for my son AND MYSELF, and put a sign and said to please only take 5 or so pieces, and I left it on the porch. It was all gone by morning and I don't care who took it. I got to go watch TV instead.

I'll have to ask my daughter how many she had as she lives a street over. She hates trunk or treat. She thinks it has ruined Halloween. Personally, after being a child, I'd rather get more candy quickly than walk all over the place just for 1 piece at each door. I always give a handful.

I don't believe it started out in Mormondumb, but from what I've read, it did originate with church groups. It has spread like wildfire and I, personally, am one of those people who LOVE it.

We've been doing it for about 10 years at our Unitarian Church here in the Bible Belt (you should see the ones at the Southern mega churches). We old people really get into it and we make a big party out of it for the kids and invite the surrounding community, as well as a competition of creative trunk decorating. Trust me, the Mormon ones I've seen are lame compared to ours.

But I wish we'd had this when my kids were younger. It's certainly safer and a way for them to feel like they trick-or-treated without having to spend a lot of time out in the cold. This year I know my goddaughter went to 3 different ones in addition to ours. Also, I heard that there are now a lot of retirement homes and nursing homes who invite children to come trick-or-treat. I think that's cool, along with malls, community centers and schools. House-to-house treating will soon be a thing of the past and I hope it's soon.

My parents got a good kick out of decorating a classroom. They rigged it up with flickering candles (battery operated), a moaning skull and a tape recorder with spooky sounds. My Dad rigged some lights that would flash behind a curtain for lightning. My Dad's favorite effect were these spiders with reflective paint. They were suspended by fishing wire that my Dad would release from a pedal on the floor.

I was dressed up as Frankenstein, my Mom as Morticia and my Dad as Dracula. We had a short skit that involved me sitting up on a table. I would then walk around growling. The church kids were really scared and bolted out. Eventually, we had more kids watching our performance than staying in the cultural hall. All the leaders came by and enjoyed the presentation. Only one brother walked up to me to complain that we went too far with our make-up.

'Sven' is a somewhat common Scandinavian name, so is Svengoolie a Scandinavian guy?

We also had a note on our door about the "neighborhood" trunk-or-treat at the ward building (not in our neighborhood) that took place the Saturday before Halloween.
As we arrived home from work, we saw a few families out with their kids.
One family walked right by. Another family, the kids came running up the driveway toward the door and the parents stopped them and told them they could not go to our house.
We ended up with only 8 kids stopping at our house.
The weather was cold, so I understand a drop in the number of people out. But it is very weird that people would prevent their children getting treats from someone just because they no longer attend church.

The college I teach at sponsored a community wide trunk or treat this year. Very festive even though it was cold. 200 “trunks” decorated, passing out everything from candy to Mardi Gras beads. Rented a pop corn machine and a cotton candy machine. Giant bubbles, bobbing for apples and donuts. Costume contest, dance contest. It was a pretty good evening.

Were the Mardi Gras beads for the children or their mothers?

I don't live close now, but I remember nude Halloween parties at Lake Bronson...

definitely NOT TRUNK OR TREAT, HA HA

I'd wager that Mo 'Trunk or Treat' celebrations were co-opted from another org, church or no, without any credit or attribution, of course



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/01/2019 05:29PM by GNPE.

Trunk or Treat always sounded more like a serial killer thing to me. Good movie title. Send in the clowns!

On the other hand, even the country club near me has a Trunk or Treat. Standing by your trunk and the kids go from trunk to trunk and no masks allowed. Stupid.

When I was a kid we made our own costumes and went all around the neighborhood constantly asking each other, "Do any of the houses have candy apples?" Sometimes actual bats flew by which was way cool. Everything was better in the olden days.

I think it's a Mormon invention in my area, though it's caught on, and a few other less-than-inclusive societies around here have lifted the idea.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/01/2019 10:24PM by scmd1.

For the first time, I saw several flyers advertising Trunk or Treat. I was commiserating with the next door neighbor how almost nobody came by, compared to years ago. I had one, he had three. We did see a few people walking along the street though, and think that maybe our block has some kind of reputation. Or maybe helicopter parents will only let kids go to known people--hence the spread of Trunk or Treat.

hours. It got tiring, but I went.

I found out the local grocery store (we live in a small area) had a trunk or treat. The sheriff's department in Logan had a trunk or treat. The stores on main street and in the mall handed out treats. I used to have a bad attitude toward trunk or treat. Not anymore. Walking for hours to get 1 piece of candy at each house. If I didn't say it before, I give each trick or treater a handful.

There were lots of adults dressed up who were in it for the attention and admiration of their costumes.

The Bigfoot synchronized dance team was awesome! I was happy that the kids were off the streets.

It is another "isolate us" mind control move