Residents share Halloween cheer, candy with kids

Angie Conant, sophomore speech pathology and audiology major, waits for the children to come to her door for trick-or-treating. Children who are residents of Allerton housing had the opportunity to trick-or-treat in Centennial C and D and Johnson and Stop

Credit: Steve Schirra

Kids scream at the top of their lungs and small feet pound down the hallway.

“One, two, three,” they count in hushed voices.

“Trick or treat!”

Seven children and three parents from Allerton went trick-or-treating in Stopher and Johnson halls and Centennial Court C and D last night.

The Bride of Frankenstein, a pirate, the Funky Chicken, a Parking Services attendant with devil horns and Cinderella laughed and held hands as they went through the residence halls knocking on doors.

Residents, also dressed in costumes, answered their doors with smiles and candy in hand.

“They’re so cute,” freshman pre-med major Tracie Gales said. “I wish I could follow them (around the halls).”

Gales said she and her roommate decided to open their door to trick-or-treaters because it was an opportunity for the kids to have a safe place to trick-or-treat.

Residents waited outside their doors as the kids came down their hall screaming. Some were disappointed not to see more children.

“It is pay day mom,” one child said when she received a PayDay candy bar.

Michelle Currens, freshman fashion merchandising major, wore a witch hat for the occasion.

“It’s one of the things I miss from home,” she said.

Stopher and Johnson halls resembled a friendly neighborhood as the residents stood outside their doors and chatted with friends about the different costumes.

Nadia, 4, who dressed as Cinderella, gave her mom her bag of candy because it was too heavy to hold. Talitha Scott, Nadia’s mother, had a spare bag to store the large amount of candy.

“I’ve never seen anything like this in my life,” Scott said.

She said she liked trick-or-treating in the residence halls more than outside because there was no rain or cold weather.

Scott said the students’ reactions are different from those of the people in her neighborhood, and the residence hall students also give out a lot more candy.

“When we did the neighborhood, she got half a bag,” she said. Nadia left the residence halls with one full pumpkin and a full grocery bag.

Scott said parents have been trick-or-treating in the halls for six years. The parents who chaperoned the children tonight were all Kent State graduates. She said it’s a good opportunity to catch up with old friends.

Julie Jones, assistant residence hall director of Stopher and Johnson halls, said about 50 students signed up to pass out candy.

“It allows the kids to come in a safe environment and go trick-or-treating,” she said.

Contact room and board reporter Noelle Pennyman at [email protected].