Trunk or Treat brings community together

The Halloween essence came alive in Kahnawake last Saturday as families packed the Kahnawake Sports Complex with 22 trunks for the annual Trunk or Treat, hosted by Kahnawake Shakotiia’takehnhas Community Services (KSCS).

Families enjoyed decorated car trunks, candy and costumes, all in a community atmosphere. The day began with a special inclusion hour for community members who benefit from a quieter environment, and attendees donated generously to the Kateri Food Basket, contributing non-perishable items and monetary gifts to support local families.

“The event was originally created with families in mind,” said Adrienne Zachary, a prevention worker at KSCS. “Since Halloween doesn’t always fall on a weekend, Trunk or Treat gives families a chance to celebrate together in a safe, inclusive and fun environment. It’s a great opportunity for everyone to come together, get creative, and enjoy the spirit of Halloween.”

Dawson Aronhiakons Horne, also a prevention worker and organizer, said family is at the core of the event.

“The reason why we started Trunk or Treat was for families that couldn’t get together. The goal is to really make sure that every year, families and children are supported,” Horne said.

This year’s inclusion hour, sponsored by Connecting Horizons, continues to make the event accessible for all. Karoniénhawe Diabo, project assistant with Connecting Horizons, said the inspiration came from listening to families and the community’s needs.

“We have been doing this for a few years now, and we have seen the need for the inclusion hour because a lot of families are reaching out, saying that they don’t take their children because it’s too loud or too scary, or there’s just too many people,” Diabo explained. “Families with neurodivergent children, it was a little bit harder for them to go, so they didn’t participate. So then once we started inclusion hour, they were able to come, and it was a calmer environment, they could be included in this event and still have fun.”

“There are people within the community of different ages who have sensory issues. With Halloween, you have a lot of loud sounds and flashing lights, and that can be very overwhelming. We really wanted to accommodate them. We ask all the trunks to have their music off and any lights off. They get through everything before anyone else does, so they really get the full experience,” said Taylor Cross, another one of the event’s organizers.

Diabo described the atmosphere as joyful and heartwarming. “Besides it being very cold, it seemed like everybody was having a great time. There’s lots of smiling. There’s a lot of happiness. You can see a lot of the kids are just very happy to be there and to be included,” she said.

Another organizer, Ohsennaonwe White of KSCS, said the organization had been delighted with the amount of participants in the event - KSCS had put a call-out for sign-ups after low registration, and had initially feared that the event would need to be cancelled before the community jumped into action to sign up.

“There were a lot more people than what we anticipated. There were already people lined up waiting to get in before the event even started,” White said.

This year’s Trunk or Treat also featured friendly competition among participants, recognizing creativity and community spirit. In the community prizes category, Patricia Barnes took home scariest trunk for her witchy theme, Danaleigh Phillips won cutest trunk for Tóta’s Takos, and Raven Horn earned funniest trunk for Tóta’s House.

Barnes said she had some helping hands with her trunk.

“My grandchildren ages eight, nine, and 10 helped me out every step of the way,” she said.

Barnes said her family loves the annual event.

“We’ve been planning since last year. I love the energy of Trunk or Treat, it’s all about the kids. We had a nice day,” she said. “We still gave out our candy. We also had a tent, and my granddaughters read fortunes, using cards to see what kind of treat the kids would be getting.”

In the organization prizes category, the Kahnawake Education Center claimed scariest trunk with their Harry Potter setup, and the Kahnawake Youth Center won funniest trunk for their locked-up theme.

As the sun set on another successful Trunk or Treat, organizers reflected on the event’s growing tradition.

“It keeps growing every year. We just really want to focus on everybody having fun, getting out, and creating memories,” Horne said.

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