SWANNANOA, N.C. (828newsNOW) — About a month after Hurricane Helene devastated the region, Halloween may not be at the forefront of thought for many Swannanoa residents.
Fortunately, Swannanoa HVAC company Gentry Service Group is here to help.
Gentry is sponsoring a “trunk ‘r treat” event from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., this Saturday, Oct. 26, at 100 Buckeye Access Road, Swannanoa.
“We were here in Swannanoa, and of course this was one of like a dozen ground zeroes after the storm,” said event organizer Kelly Giezentanner. “We’ve been here giving aid to the community with other folks in the area, and we just wanted, we just felt, maybe the time was right a month later to let kids be kids.”
Giezentanner and her team whipped together their plan. Less than a week out, they were able to announce a fully-fledged Halloween extravaganza on the Gentry grounds.
The “trunk” part of “trunk ‘r treat” refers to 12 vehicles that have been decked out in costumed splendor. Each van has its own theme and will be a candy stop for kids in lieu of traditional houses.
“One is an octopus. We test drove it today,” laughed Candice Horrell, another Gentry team member helping with the event. “Literally, the tentacles come outside of the car.”
The other vehicle themes include Super Mario Bros., Pokémon, Barbie, dinosaurs – there are two of those, in fact – and “Hocus Pocus.”
“Everybody likes ‘Hocus Pocus,'” explained Horrell.
Besides the candy cars, the “trunk ‘r treat” will include food, cotton candy and inflatables. Kids can look forward to a bounce house, a bounce house and slide combination and the tallest inflatable slide they could find, said Horrell. There will also be gem mining and pumpkins, as well music from 105.9 The Mountain FM.
All of it is completely free.
“It’s free. Absolutely,” assured Giezentanner. “It’s free to the community. They just need to show up and we have everything else covered.”