The Fall Festival/Trunk or Treat at the First Baptist Church in Bethlehem cultivated creativity, color, energy, and diverse stories. Held in the backyard of the church, this special Halloween event icluded attractions such as pumpkin bowling, a maze, face painting and pumpkin decorating. However, it is most unique for showcasing cars with Halloween inspired trunks and candy giveaways.

Pastor David Hardin and Vicky Severn, the co-director of children at the church, helped organize this event for the third year.

“For a long time the church did a pumpkin give-away and we wanted to do something to replace this,” Pastor Hardin said.” Last year it rained, so we had to do this event inside, but I’ve seen growth in the number of people.

“It’s one of the ways we want to do something fun and low key to serve the community to be a blessing to them and show how God loves them.” Hardin said, noting the free event isn’t rooted so much in the spookiness that Halloween brings. “So much has gotten focused on scare. It’s important to do something family friendly, creative, and keep it G-rated.”

Severn mirrored some of Hardin’s thoughts.

“It’s important the community knows we love them,” she said, “and it’s fun because we get to see such neat ideas for the trunk, and an engineer made the maze.