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Trick-or-Treaters partake in larger-than-life Halloween event
Young and old enjoy a Spook-tacular evening at Addington Place
MT. PLEASANT — Halloween came to Mt. Pleasant a little early as Addington Place decked out their space and welcomed trick-or-treaters to their memorable No Tricks, Just Treats on Addington Place Street event.
After three years without indoor trick or treating, Addington Place staff and residents were excited to welcome back little ghouls, ghosts, and goblins Wednesday evening for trick-or-treating, music, snacks, and games as they celebrated the spooky season together.
“This has been our first indoor Trick or Treat event since COVID,” Addington Place community relations coordinator Cody Flietner said. “Our last inside event was in 2019. We felt we needed to go big or go home to deliver the best Trick or Treat experience to our residents, their families, and our Mt Pleasant community. We went above and beyond with our decorations, our theme for our costumes as a management team, we were the Addington Avengers, and overall, our candy/treat/cookie delivery to all of the patrons that came out!”
They certainly went all out.
From the moment cars pulled into the Addington Place parking lot, extravagant decorations, including a giant skeleton, greeted the costumed crowd of well over 300 visiting the assisted living facility for the evening.
Inside the building the Halloween spirit continued to impress as Flietner says they, “…literally had every nook and cranny covered in our community. It was spook-tacular!”
“The residents were mesmerized with how we transformed our community into a walk-in haunted house,” Flienter said.
Families enjoyed hot dogs and chips from a haunted hot dog stand and enjoyed receiving treats from residents as they journeyed through themed hallways.
Flietner took a very active role in creating an immersive environment for the fun-filled event.
“If I broke it down percentage wise, I would say the community provided about 25% of the decorations everyone saw, while I provided 75% of the decorations,” he said.
According to Flietner it took three trips in his Honda Pilot to bring all of the many decorations to the facility to bring this bigger-than-life event to fruition.
“The 200 Hallway was Webway Ave. themed with webs and spiders,” Flietner said. “The 300 hallway was Skeleton Street themed with all things skeleton, including a rock in roll band at the end of the hallway. The 400 hallway was Batwing Blvd themed with bats flying from the ceiling and creepy cloth hanging down.”
As much as guests to Addington Place enjoyed themselves, Flietner says the residents enjoyed it just as much.
Many enjoyed the simple pleasure of handing out candy from their rooms.
“They all recount a time of when they handed out candy at their homes from Halloween of yesteryear,” Flietner said. “They loved seeing the parade of kids wearing their unique and creative costumes.
While the name of the event says there were not tricks, not every resident followed that theme.
Marilyn Brooks, an Addington Place resident, got a few good-humored tricks in at the “Terrifying Treat Station.”
“We had goodie bags and various treats all around [Marilyn’s] head on a table,” Flietner said. “The kids would have to grab fast before Marilyn would scare them!”
Overall, Flietner said, “It was fun for everyone who was involved that evening.”
Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com
