Nesha S.
Girl Reporter
I hope that everyone had a wonderful Halloween last week! To celebrate the fall festivities, the San Gorgonio Girl Scout Council hosted the Trunk or Treat Block Party! The Holiday Carnival kicked off at 5 p.m. on Saturday, October 26th on Plum Lane in Redlands. Even though a street or two were closed off, there was still plenty of parking close by. As we excitedly walked towards the event, we noticed plenty of pirates, space aliens, tall humans with big baby face masks, and pretty princesses out in full force. I wore my favorite purple crayon costume and my mom was a large Crayola crayon box.
We first went to the registration table where we were greeted by a lovely pink giant butterfly and a beautiful floral themed Day of the Dead skull lady. I dropped off my bag of candy and received my orange wristband. I was also given the colorful event patch which depicted a green monster with a pink ribbon on her head and high cheekbones of blue webbing, with the words, “Trunk or Treat” fitted inside her red-lipped mouth. I didn’t realize that monsters loved make-up, but this one had long mascara’ed eyelashes!
Next, we paid $7 to create a screen printed t-shirt. Each participant could choose from several prints including a crescent moon, flying bats, and pumpkins. I chose the owl print. The nice volunteer showed me how to use the squeegee to smear the screen with the “paint” and then lay the owl stenciled screen on the t-shirt. The experience was fun and educational and I left the t-shirt on the table to dry for an hour. Next, we went to the Haunted House which was “hiding” behind a faux beveled glass door that said “Dead Zone” and was oozing out foreboding smoke.
At the table, we paid for both the entrance fee and a glow in the dark “I Survived the Haunted House 2018” patch. I was not sure if we were going to survive it or not, but we walked through the murky smoke with great trepidation. Almost immediately, we were greeted by two ghostly, ghastly girls with “blood” smeared on the sides of their mouth and then by the noise of squeaky caskets opening so very slowly. Some creepy, crawling creatures seemed to scurry past our feet. We heard eery “clicking” sounds. We went past dimly lit candelabras and I thought we were almost to the end of the “road” when a towering clown with pointy, long fangs, sharp claws, and fiery eyes jumped out at us! It seemed less like a clown and more like the relentless killer extraterrestrial in the classic horror flick, Alien. Much like the athletic Ellen Ripley, I leaped acrobatically towards a peek of light and out the exit door to my escape! My mom – her more athletic days behind her and her body trapped inside a Crayola box – was still imprisoned within the Dead Zone! After some blood-curdling screams, she staggered out the exit door to the outside world, her ashen face the Crayola color of “Baby’s Powder White.” We had survived the Haunted House and it had been well worth the $2 entry fee!
Next, I went to get a pretty floral glitter tattoo to ease my nerves. A nice student and artist from CAL State San Bernardino helped me pick my pink sparkly floral design and expertly applied it to my arm. I then walked past the cake walk and posed for some photos with an energetic orange dinosaur who seemed to also be making the rounds. The street was crowded with costume figures of all sizes playing the elaborate carnival-style games. The backs of each parked vehicle had been brilliantly transformed into mini dens of various horrifying but fun games of chance and skill, such as Spookadelic Skull Krusher and Potions and Poisons. I enjoyed aiming small balls into bodiless hands at the Insane Asylum. There was even a Hollywood style red carpet booth where everyone could be photographed as if they were entering the Dolby Theater. That experience was definitely more glamorous than scary!
My most favorite Trunk or Treat experience was climbing up the colossal inflatable pirate ship. The ship was enveloped by a huge orange octopus which seemed to be dragging the ship and all its “sailors” to the bottom of the ocean. Having a great fondness for doomed ships, I took off my shoes and climbed up the dark passage all the way to the very top! I took a breath and slid with great speed down the ship’s slide which seemed well over 100 feet long! This thrill ride was not for the faint of heart, but there was a long line of courageous souls waiting to climb up and slide down! There were also smaller size jumpers around providing plenty of bouncy opportunities for everyone, regardless of age.
Somewhere in the middle of the bone-chilling mayhem, we missed the 6: 15 p.m. costume contest! I thought my mom and I had had a good chance of getting “Funniest”. We had walked past the spectacular looking trophies earlier in the evening. The costume categories were: Scariest, Sparkliest, Nerdiest, GS Pride, Best Family, Funniest, Most Haunting, Most Creative and Judge’s choice. The Trunk trophy categories were: Best Haunted, Sparkle and Pizzazz, Nerdiest, GS pride, Best Super Hero and Most Original. Congratulations to the lucky winners!
A monstrously large blue screen was going up “drive-in style” on Plum Street, next to the sinking ship and the vicious orange octopus. “Goosebumps” was going to start playing at 7:15 p.m. so while we were waiting, we got in the long “Fiendish Food” line. Volunteers were busy selling jumbo hotdogs, jumbo chili cheese dogs, and nachos as well as popcorn, cotton candy, soda, bottled water and snow cones. I am a vegetarian so I snacked on some Nachos with cheese (minus the chili) and some tasty buttered popcorn.
We stayed around for the first part of Goosebumps and then we picked up my screen printed owl t-shirt and left. (Unfortunately, I had a frighteningly long Advanced Placement assignment that had to be submitted before the clock struck midnight)! The rest of the event continued until 9 p.m. This had been my first ever Girl Scout Trunk or Treat experience. I had wanted to attend one for the last 10 years and it was well worth the wait! What a ghoulishly great way to start off the fall season!
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