Lansingburgh, Watervliet plan big Halloween community events

In Watervliet, the candy and snacks collection is growing at the high school, as they prepare for the 300 to 400 children that they expect this weekend.

"Last year, we started this event because with the pandemic," said organizer Amanda Cavanaugh. "We wanted a safe way for our students and families to be able to trick-or-treat, make sure they weren’t going house to house, and that they were in a safe environment outdoors."

They had well over 200 families come through.

This year, many people and businesses are volunteering.

The event is in the Watervliet High School parking lot on Halloween, noon to 3 p.m.

The pandemic is only part of the reason why they’re doing this again.

"It is, but also because we had so much fun seeing all the kids last year," said Cavanaugh. "The community businesses that were involved really enjoyed having the opportunity to connect with students and families in a different way."

Bags and bags of candy are going into Knickerbacker Park in Lansingburgh.

Last year was the first Trunk-or-Treat here. It came together in response to gun violence, which had claimed the life of a child and left families on edge.

"I wanted to give them a safe space alternative to allow them to lose some of that anxiety and have their kids have a good time on Halloween," said organizer Marc Pallozzi, head of the Knickerbacker Board.

The response last year took organizers by surprise.

"The line literally went a quarter mile up to the old pool location, so we were a little overwhelmed last year that we had that many people which is why in the middle of the event, we had to go out and get more candy because we ran out pretty quickly," said Pallozzi. "So we’re not taking any chances this year. We have about 50,000 pieces of candy this year compared to last year."

This year, even the park looks different, with a working fountain and a new playground.

So many volunteers signed up cars, they’re almost at capacity, and all are excited to give the children some candy, a few memories, and a lot of smiles.

The Lansingburgh Trick or Treat Street is on Halloween, noon to 4 at Knickerbacker Park.