Have a spooky Halloween, Silver Valley!

On top of the standard Halloween fun that is trick or treating, many of the cities across the Silver Valley will be holding special events for residents to partake in. The following is a breakdown of these events by city. In all local cities, trick or treating hours are 6 to 7 p.m.

Kellogg

The county’s biggest city, Kellogg will be bring back an old Halloween event — Trunk or Treat. Held in the Silver Mountain Resort parking lot from roughly 5:30 to 7 p.m. Halloween night, the free event is set to have around 20 different vehicle trunks available to kids to get candy from.

Participants and families simply show up with a trunk full of goodies and move about getting candy from other trunks that are present. It’s also encouraged that everyone wear a costume.

Put on by the Kellogg Police Department in collaboration with Silver Mountain, Chief David Wuolle explained that in addition to fun, Trunk or Treat is about safety.

“The concept is to get the kids off the street into a better, controlled environment so they aren’t running around. I know here in Kellogg, we get traffic issues with the kids crossing the street going house to house.”

On top of the Trunk or Treating, a prize will be given out for best decorated trunk. Games and food may also be available.

Wuolle stresses that kids are still absolutely free to go out and do traditional trick or treating as well.

“We will have extra patrols out in the neighborhoods for those who just want to go door-to-door.”

Although the Trunk or Treat event is not new, this is the first time that it has been held at Silver Mountain.

Resort General Manager Jeff Colburn explained that, “Silver is happy to help out and be the host site for this important community event that creates a safe Halloween experience for the kids.”

For more information or to RSVP your trunk, contact event organizer Veronica Wuolle at 208-659-6372.

Osburn

Cornerstone Church will be hosting their fourth annual Harvest Festival at Silver Hills Elementary School Halloween night.

The event was created as a community event that allowed for families to get into the Halloween spirit, while creating a safe and nonthreatening environment.

Cornerstone pastor Cody Karst saw a need in his community and hoped that he could offer something similar, but slightly different.

“Four years ago, Cornerstone Church noticed there were multiple events taking place on Halloween night. However, nothing was offered in Osburn, Silverton or Wallace,” Karst said. “We wanted to offer a Christ-centered event that was welcoming, fun and safe for our community.”

On the west end of the Silver Valley, the Trunk or Treat event gave people a fun event to go to that was controlled and contained, but was also outside.

And in this neck of the woods, outside in late October can give us any number of potential weather options.

“North Idaho has experienced some very cold, rainy, and even snowy October nights,” Karst said. “Most kids do not care about how cold the weather is, but many parents have enjoyed the fact that they can be warm while their kids have a great time.”

The indoor aspect of the event provides weather relief, but also an added layer of security, which is why Karst believes the idea has consistently gotten more and more successful.

“Safety is a top priority,” Karst said. “Sadly, we live in a society where we do have to take adequate precautions. All of the candy donations we take in are still sealed in the bag they were purchased in, to ensure it has not been tampered with. While parents are primarily responsible for their children at the event, we do have roamers who walk around and make sure the event is controlled and safe. We normally have police officers present as well.”

With the event being hosted by a church, the concept of Halloween changes slightly, as the darker and more graphic aspects of Halloween are avoided and replaced with a lighter, more family friendly event.

However, if you want a Biblical perspective on some of Halloween’s more ghoulish characters, Karst can help you there too.

“Regarding the darker and graphic aspects of the holiday, we do not care for that either. If people want to learn about real zombies, ghosts and skeletons, we hand out an awesome Bible track that tells them where to turn in scripture to read about them,” Karst said. “Our primary goal is to share the love of Jesus with people by creating an atmosphere that is welcoming, kind and positive. Generally, people recognize that it is a Christian and elementary-oriented event, we have never had to ask someone to change, leave or anything like that.”

The completely free event will offer free hotdogs, cotton candy, popcorn and candy.

It will also feature three giant inflatable obstacle courses, two bounce houses for the little ones, a cake walk, a costume contest (with cash prizes for a variety of age groups, including adults), family photo booth, a balloon pit, carnival games and a firefighter-organized obstacle course. The fourth annual Cornerstone Harvest Festival will run from 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 31.

Pinehurst

Real Life Ministries will be holding their Harvest Festival at the Pinehurst Elementary School from 6 to 8 p.m. Halloween night. Attendees will be treated to games, costume contests and food provided by Real Life Ministries.

Wallace

The day before Halloween, the Wallace High School Student Council will be holding a free, all-ages haunted house from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Civic Auditorium, 503 First St., Wallace. Those who dare to attend, will walk through some of the scariest parts of the old gymnasium as Wallace High Student Council Members act as zombies, clowns, and more.

Mullan

The Mullan Public Library will be hosting a Halloween Carnival at the Morning Club in Mullan. For more information, contact Debbie Morris at 208-744-1326.