Niles trunk-or-treat event draws local support
Published 3:35 pm Monday, November 2, 2020
|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
NILES — The sounds of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” could be heard walking into the parking lot behind Brown Funeral Home, located at 521 E. Main St., on Saturday evening. Costumed superheroes, supervillains, princesses, video game and anime characters were running around gathering candy after uttering the magical phrase: “trick or treat.”
Many family and friends hoping to trick-or-treat in the Niles area found their way to the Tattoo the World “Nightmare on Sycamore Street” trunk-or-treat event Tiara Williams organized in memory of her brother. The parking lot for the funeral home opens up onto Sycamore Street.
Friends of the family, like Kayla Dewey, were out participating in the trunk-or-treat with her car’s trunk decorated with fake spider webs.
“They did good job,” Dewey said. “A lot of kids from our street are here.”
Another duo, Lindsey Chavous and Jenia Palmer, were handing out candy from their vehicle’s trunk decorated as the Batcave, from Batman.
“It’s a really good turnout,” Chavous said. “I’m excited to see everyone out with their kids.”
“There are usually not a lot of people trick-or-treating over here,” Williams said. “Even as kids, nobody ever trick-or-treated over here. It just amazes me that all these people are out in our neighborhood, where my brother was born and raised.”
The siblings grew up on Sycamore Street in Niles.
Brandon “Tattoo” Williams passed away on June 23, 2019, in South Bend, as a result of an act of gun violence.
“His nickname was Tattoo,” Williams said.
Tattoo the World is Tiara’s nonprofit to bring events and charity to the community she loves, in ways that her brother would have enjoyed. Halloween was one of his favorite holidays.
Attendees handing out candy were invited to decorate their vehicle trunks and come in costumes, and many did. With about 12 trunks in the parking lot, there were stops for trick-or-treaters of all ages to fill their treat buckets and bags.
Integrated into the event, Williams had collected winter coats to give out to anyone who needed one. They sat at their own vehicle, waiting for new wearers. Bags of necessities were also provided for any homeless or person in need that came through to pick up.
