By Nathan Tsukroff

GORHAM – A socially-distanced drive-through Halloween candy giveaway was a huge success for Summit Community Church on the grounds of the Gorham Middle School last weekend.

Nearly 100 cars had wound their way through the staff parking lot just outside the school on Weeks Road in the first half of the two-hour “Trunk or Treat” event, with children collecting candy handed to them at the end of sticks, chutes and tubes.

Travis Bush, the lead pastor of the church, said he and wife, Kristin, “Were just sitting around thinking what we are we  going to do” for trick-or-treating on Halloween. “Going doing door-to-door didn’t seem an option this year.”

Bush said the church has conducted a “Trunk or Treat” event each year at its location on Gorham Road in Scarborough, but this year “we wanted to come in to the community and offer this to families who are wondering the same thing – what does Halloween look like this year?”

Church members chose themes and wore costumes as part of the event.

Guests stayed in their cars and drove slowly past each themed car as church members handed out candy and treats.

“We actually issued a challenge to each of our “trunks” to come up with the most creative to get the candy from the “trunks” to the (passing) cars,” Bush said.

One theme had a candy in a bucket hauled out on a long pole with a clothesline, while other themes placed candy into a tube that was upended to slide the candy into the waiting hands of the children in the car. In other themes, church members used arm extenders with hand-operated pinchers to grab candy and place it into passing hands while staying properly distanced.

Everyone in the themed “trunks” wore face masks and was careful to maintain mandated social distancing.

Guests at the event were decked out in a myriad of costumes and makeup, although only a few actually stepped out of the cars to collect candy.