AMHERST- While some children wandered their neighborhoods knocking on strangers’ doors for candy on Tuesday evening, others ran up and down the residence halls of Northeast Residential Area, knocking on any door with a “Trick-or-Treaters Welcome” sign.
Dwight, Mary Lyon, Crabtree, Knowlton, Lewis, Thatcher and Hamlin Residence Halls participated in the event, two of which, Crabtree and Knowlton, were designated as peanut-free. “I know this year we especially used a lot of Facebook-ing and finding people from previous years to reach out to. I know last year we did a lot of flyers, so it’s been a mix of both,” said Wei Cai, 20, who has helped organize the event for two years. “A lot of people here in Northeast are international students, and so they don’t even know what Halloween is. So for some of them this is their first time experiencing that and it’s just so awesome,” he said. (Rachel Symes/ Amherst Wire)
Nursing student Kyle Kendall, 23, (far right) helped families sign in to trick-or-treat. He is governor of the Northeast Residential Area and an organizer of the event. “This is kind of a community service event for us here at UMass, so in that way we’re kind of giving back to the community, inviting the community into UMass,” said Kendall. (Rachel Symes/ Amherst Wire)
Parents were required to accompany their trick-or-treaters during the event, pictured here in Crabtree Hall. (Rachel Symes/ Amherst Wire)
Residents participating in the event posted “Trick-or-Treaters Welcome” signs on their doors and handed out candy supplied by event organizers. Event organizer Kyle Kendall, 23, said, “Right away within the first three days I think we had 134 volunteers. We kept pushing to get the RAs to have people volunteer….Delta Kappa Delta, which is a sorority on campus, they actually reached out to us for volunteering hours, so their whole sorority tonight is actually helping hand out candy as well.” (Rachel Symes/ Amherst Wire)
UMass students, from left to right, Prashasti Rayamajhi (19), Christine Akiki (20), Sravya Avadhuta (19), and Deepti Kamma (20), volunteered for the event this year. Junior biology and environmental science major Deepti Kamma, who dressed as the W.E.B Du Bois Library, said her favorite part was “definitely seeing all the kids….It’s just like a good vibe to bring trick-or-treating to UMass,” Kamma said. (Rachel Symes/ Amherst Wire)
Some trick-or-treaters were apprehensive to knock on this extra spooky door. This is the sixth consecutive year that the North/Northeast/Sylvan Residential Area Government invited families to it’s trick-or-treat event. (Rachel Symes/ Amherst Wire)