Mark your calendars: local Halloween fun for families

Hillcrest Covenant Church got Halloween celebrations off to an early start with a pumpkin carving party at Franklin Park —- a party whose centerpiece activity was made markedly difficult by the fact that the shelter lights didn’t come on after dusk, forcing parents to use their cell phones as flashlights:

For other area Halloween fun, consider the following:

Fairway’s annual Trail of Tricks and Treats returns Sunday from 5-7 p.m. at Peterson Park (next to the Fairway Pool). For $4 admission per person (kids under 2 are free), families get to walk a winding trail lined with Halloween lights and games, including pumpkin bowling and potato sack races. A costume parade will commence at 6 p.m. Admission includes hot dogs, chips, cookies and popcorn.

The Village Shops and Corinth Square will both host family trick-or-treating events Monday. The merchants at the Village will be handing out candy from 4-7 p.m. Corinth, which didn’t have trick-or-treating last year, will be welcoming Halloweeners from 4-6 p.m.

Twins Payton (awake) and Addison (asleep) Schroeppel were very scary spiders trick-or-treating at the Village Shops last year.