Frederick families enjoy Safe Harvest activities at Hood.

By Laurel Hill//

Trick-or-treaters descended upon Hood College Thursday evening in celebration of the college’s annual Safe Harvest event.

“Hood students started Safe Harvest a number of years ago to create a traditional Halloween with fall activities in a safe environment,” according to a press release from Hood.  Safe Harvest, which was sponsored by the Hood College chapter of the Mortar Board Honor Society and open to children age 12 and younger, is designed to serve as an alternative to trick-or-treating in the neighborhoods surrounding Hood.

The participant registration line, which was filled with excited superheroes, princesses, monsters and more, stretched around Whitaker Campus Center in anticipation of the event. The Safe Harvest festivities began in the Whitaker Campus

Commons at 5 p.m. with games and activities hosted by student volunteers and campus organizations. The room became a cacophony of enthusiastic chatter as children made their way around the stations, which included painting pumpkins, digging for treasure in sandboxes, and listening to Halloween stories.

Hood student Jennifer Dinterman, a first -time Safe Harvest volunteer, supervised children in a spider web search game. Sponsored by the Colleges Against Cancer student organization, the game challenged participants to retrieve objects out of a bucket with serving tongs while maneuvering around a web made of yarn. “I think it’s really cool that everyone from the community can come out with their kids with all the activities,” Dinterman said. “We can show the community how nice people are at Hood.”

During registration, participants were divided into numerous groups with unique Halloween-themed names and designated departure times to prevent the halls hosting trick-or-treaters from being overwhelmed with children. By 5:15 p.m., the first wave of children began making their way through the five trick or treat locations: Smith Hall, Shriner Hall, Meyran Hall, Memorial Hall and Coblentz Hall.

Senior Monica Shenton took groups of trick-or-treaters and their chaperones around campus during the event. Though Shenton has volunteered in the activities room of Safe Harvest for the last three years, this was her first year as a trick or treat guide. “My favorite thing is just seeing all the kids in their costumes and seeing how much joy it brings to them,” Shenton said. “I usually just work the activities, so I get to see them come up and it’s cool to see them get so excited, ” she said.  “I’m an education major so seeing kids is one of my favorite things.”

Each of the trick or treat destinations were decorated with a variety of Halloween scenes ranging from Harry Potter to a mock dorm room littered with fake body parts. Student volunteers, many of whom in costumes themselves, greeted the children and directed them to the candy as they made their way through the buildings.

Hood student Tiara Winston volunteered to give out candy on the second floor of the children’s last stop, Coblentz Hall, during the event. Though getting to the second floor proved to be a challenge for some of the trick-or-treaters, who could be seen being carried by their chaperones by the end of their long journey around Hood, those who did make it to the end were rewarded with a final round of treats.

“The kids are super, super, super cute,” Winston said as she dropped candy into a princess’ bag. “I love children.”