Trick or treat at Randall Road shops
Two weekends in a row, you can hit the stores along Randall Road for some free Halloween candy.
All you'll need to do is dress up in your best costume and head to Algonquin Commons this weekend and Geneva Commons next weekend.
The fun begins at Algonquin Commons at 11 a.m. Sunday, when the mall hosts its sixth annual Safe Trick or Treat event.
The first 2,000 children age 12 or younger will get a free Halloween goody bag and a plush toy before they start out on their mission to get the goodies.
Then comes the candy. You can trick-or-treat mall-wide for samples, coupons and candy until 1 p.m.
Usually, shopkeepers are standing in the doorway admiring the costumes and passing out the goodies as you walk from one store to the next.
It can get crowded, but sometimes the big crowds help serve as a shield from the cold.
At 1 p.m., following the trick-or-treating, there will be an all-ages costume contest.
There also will be a raffle, with prizes drawn at 1 p.m.
Next weekend, after you've eaten some of the candy and are ready for more, Geneva Commons will host a similar event.
From 4 to 7 p.m. on Halloween, Oct. 31, you can head to the Randall Road outdoor mall for its trick-or-treat event.
It will work pretty much the same as Algonquin Commons. Just head to any store with a special sign in the window, and that's where you'll find the candy or other goodies.
More Halloween fun: Barley House, along Randall Road, will be hosting some of its own Halloween fun for kids and adults this month.
From noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24, the Algonquin restaurant will hold a pumpkin decorating contest for children 12 and younger.
Free pumpkins, craft supplies for decorating and registration forms to enter the contest will be available. There is no fee to enter the contest.
Visitors and patrons can vote for the pumpkins through Halloween in three categories -- most original, funniest and scariest.
The top winner in each category will win a $25 gift card to where else, but Barley House.
For the adults, Barley House is hosting an Oktobeerfest through Halloween, where you can taste 13 different beers, including Buffalo Bill's Pumpkin and Great Lakes Oktoberfest.
All of the beers are different prices.
If you manage to taste them all, you'll get an Oktobeerfest T-shirt.
Amy Williams' column covers all the news of business along the Randall Road corridor from Batavia to Crystal Lake. Contact her at randallbiz@comcast.net or (847) 894-5036.