A Memorable Halloween: Canterbury's Annual Trick-or-Treat

_{November 2, 2023}
Ghosts and goblins were running all around Canterbury Villa of Alliance this Halloween season! Our beloved Halloween tradition returned to Alliance as we welcomed everyone from witches and princesses to monsters and angels to our facility.

As the children approached the building, they were greeted by glowing pumpkins and an inflatable arch with a witch and ghost. Our residents' favorite part is always passing out candy to the children from their doorways. Everyone had a hand in putting something together like our Activity Aide, Luann, who made Marvin from an old box and craft supplies. Guests were urged to feed "Marvin the Monster" bags of candy since Activities was starving him!



With all the fun and candy around, our guests were most excited about our "cake walk," which is our favorite Halloween tradition. This is similar to musical chairs but instead of sitting in a chair, you step on a number. When the music stops and your number is called, you get to come to the cake table and pick out a cake or cupcake. Shoutout to Lisa, MDS Nurse, who donated many cupcakes to the event, along with the activity staff, Kim, and Connor Cole.

Next, the children entered the Canterbury Haunted House! The dining room was transformed into a kid-friendly haunted house with many hours of work from the Activity staff, Maintenance Director, and Housekeeping Director. We had a fog machine to make the atmosphere spooky, a howling wolf, a screaming doll, many cobwebs and spiders, bats, and so many more scary things! Many children and adults were frightened by a very special ghost named Joe. Joe, one of our residents, wore a white sheet and sat silently in the corner of the haunted house. As guests moved closer, Joe would move and rattle his "chainsaw."



After all the candy, the children stood in line to get Halloween balloons from Tricky Ricky. They picked swords, pumpkins, fairy wands, and animals. A valued volunteer, Mike, and his daughter, Shay, popped popcorn for the guests and made sure everyone had some. We were also blessed by our mascot, Watson, and his brothers, Cooper and Oliver. They were almost just as anticipated as the candy!

We are so blessed here at Canterbury to have family, friends, and residents who volunteer their time and talents to make events a success. Head to our Facebook page to see all the costumes and smiling faces from our event!

Canterbury on Facebook