For village trick-or-treaters, Halloween nights will be sweeter thanks to the Scotia Fire Department. The department will continue its more than 30-year-old annual tradition of serving free doughnuts and cider throughout the neighborhoods. Coordinator of the event and volunteer firefighter Tom Gifford said 127 dozen Freihofer’s doughnuts have been ordered as well as 42 gallons of cider.
The department has 16 scheduled stops between 4:30 and 7:55 p.m., with a dozen or so volunteers scheduled to help out.
Gifford said the doughnut giveaway has always been a popular event in the 26 years he has participated.
We have been so fortunate that every year our volunteers make this happen, from funding the event to giving time. This is one of the most fun social activities of the year, and it is appreciated and enjoyed by young and old alike. We get hundreds of neighbors turning out at each stop, and they often stand around talking with each other after we have pulled out for the next stop, said Gifford.
Mayor Kris Kastberg announced the official hours of trick-or-treating at last month’s board of trustees meeting. The hours will coincide with the doughnuts and cider, from 4 to 8 p.m. Kastberg said the doughnuts are something residents look forward to every year.
`It helps to keep trick-or-treating family friendly. It’s just another reminder how much our volunteers in all areas of the village do for us,` said Kastberg.
Rene Curtin of Charles Street said she and her children, who plan to dress as a skeleton, ladybug and peapod, will be out Halloween night and will certainly look for the cider doughnuts.
`I didn’t grow up in Scotia, and the first year I took the kids out I was so impressed that they actually do this in the village and take the time to do it every year,` said Curtin.
Gifford said members of the department have just finished distributing letters for the annual fund drive and a good chunk of the money is returned to the village in activities such as the doughnut handout.
The scheduled stops are as follows: 4:30 p.m., Catherine and N. Ten Broeck streets; 4:45 p.m., Holyrood at Fourth and Houston; 5 p.m., N. Toll and Lark; 5:15 p.m., S. Toll and Sanders Avenue; 5:30 p.m., Orlinda Avenue and S. Holmes Street; 5:45 p.m., Glen and Pleasantview avenues; 6 p.m., Sanders Avenue and S. Ten Broeck Street; 6:15 p.m., Washington and Livingston avenues; 6:20 p.m., Washington Avenue and Washington Road; 6:35 p.m., Spearhead Drive; 6:45 p.m., Deerfield Place and Red Coach Drive; 7 p.m., Glenview Drive and Holly Boulevard; 7:10 p.m., Holly Boulevard and Fawn Drive; 7:25 p.m., Parkland Avenue and Uncas Drive; 7:40 p.m., Cuthbert and Concord streets; and 7:55 p.m., Weathercrest.
`It really pulls a community together,` said Gifford.
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