West Dundee Halloween party features 'trunk-or-treating'

Halloween parties usually don't need to be advertised. By word-of-mouth, the fun, the candy and the costumes speak for themselves.

If the party is an annual event, then its reputation will herald revelers to return.

West Dundee's community Halloween party is one of those events. All people have to know is where and when to show up, and families will know what to expect. In this case, the party is from noon to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22, in Cal Grafelman Park.

For seven years, volunteers have put together the free outdoor party for families who wanted to embrace the season even tighter than they already do.

"The first couple of years it was on Halloween," said Kane County Board member Becky Gillam, one of the event's 12 organizers. "But that was getting too complicated when Halloween fell during the week."

So, they moved it to the weekend and added to the festivities. There's a costume parade and contest and refreshments. There also is a hayride that will take revelers throughout West Dundee neighborhoods to view decorated houses.

Also, there will be face painting and games for children, along with a trunk-or-treat option.

"For trunk-or-treat, we will close off a portion of Washington Street and cars will line up on it," Gillam said. "Instead of knocking on doors of houses, families can walk from car to car and receive treats from trunks filled with candy."

Not only are we talking about a few cars, but enough to keep the bags of more than 500 people filled.

"This has turned into a nice and popular event," Gillam said. "Whoever wants to come, can attend. There's no age limit. We get families from all over the place."

Dundee residents Jill and Duane Harris started the party during the recession when families needed a reason to celebrate, Gillam said. With the help of neighbor Michael Dewey and other planners, they agreed to continue it when the economy improved.

Besides, who wants to pull the plug on a Halloween party just because the economy has improved? Gillam and her colleagues want to keep it going as long as they can. To accomplish that, they need continued good weather and more volunteers to help with the children's games.

"We have volunteers from Dundee-Crown and Jacobs high schools signed up and members of the local Lions Club," she said. "That's about 36 students, but we need from 80-90 volunteers for the entire day. We're expecting more than 500 people to attend."

Potential volunteers are asked to sign up at the event's Facebook page, "Village of West Dundee Halloween Party." On the page, viewers can also vote for the houses they think should be included in the hayride and save themselves a spot in the trunk-or-treat line.