Funeral home hosts a Halloween event

Lots of schools, churches, and community centers are holding trunk-or-treat events this Halloween season, but the scariest one could well be at the Demaine Funeral Home.

Don’t expect ghouls in coffins or skeleton hands popping out of graves, though.

This event, on Friday, Oct. 25, 5:30-7 p.m., at 5308 Backlick Road in Springfield, features kid-friendly activities, like a petting zoo, balloon artists, food trucks, and car trunks decorated by local businesses.

“We’re trying to keep it pretty light to encourage all ages to attend,” says Demaine’s manager, Brandon Yeckel.

So why would a business that deals with the dead host a fun Halloween event for families? “We want the community to get to know us in a different light than what we do every day,” Yeckel says. “Our staff likes to interact with folks.”

The activities are outdoors on the parking lot. “There’s no danger of kids running inside and seeing anything they’re not prepared to see,” he says.

This is Demaine Funeral Home’s fourth trunk-or-treat event. It’s gotten bigger every year, he says. “We haven’t gotten any bad reactions.”

Why not go out all out on the scarier aspects of Halloween? “That’s just not the direction we want to go in,” Yeckel says, although it might be something to think about in the future.