Families enjoy downtown spooks at Trunk or Treat

Thousands gathered on Newberry Street on Saturday with one thing on their minds: candy.

The third annual Trunk or Treat hosted by the City of Aiken Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, in collaboration with the Aiken Downtown Development Association, drew record crowds to the Newberry Festival site for an evening of ghostly fun.

The annual festival geared toward children 12 and younger provides a place for families to celebrate Halloween in a safe and fun atmosphere. Twenty-three businesses and organizations set up shop in the trunk of vehicles and passed out candy to the trick-or-treaters and participated in a booth decorating contest.

"It can be described as mass fun," said Barbara Gassman, tourism supervisor. "It is cute to see all the kids in different costumes in a safe environment and not on the street."

"I am so happy the weather held out so everybody was able to come out and have a good time. I love to see the kids," Alicia Davis said.

Trunk or Treat not only featured trick or treating but also carnival games, food vendors and costume contests for a variety of ages and even pets.

The winners of the parent and child costume contest stole the hearts of the judges with an 11-person group costume depicting Alice in Wonderland.

Beating out a family dressed in a Star Wars theme to claim first place in the competition was the Ergle family for the second consecutive year.

"We became a manufacturing company today, getting the costumes together," Dana Ergle said. "We started preparing the costumes yesterday. Last year, we were the Wizard of Oz, and I knew we had to do something to top that. We dug around in thrift stores and around our house to put these together."

Ingenuity reigned in this year's costume contests. In the children's contest, a handmade costume of felt and a flower pot stole the hearts of the judges and the crowd as Eden Smith claimed first place.

Though many have attended the event since its inception, others participated for the first time.

"The event has been growing every year. It is definitely very popular," Gassman said. "It is hard to predict how much candy to bring. We are grateful to all of our sponsors and everyone who participated."

Contact Rachel Johnson at rjohnson@aikenstandard.com.