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Students help treat, not trick on Halloween

“I think our class has the most caring kids in it,”Hunter Wilson said.

Staff writer

Halloween often brings out roaming packs of young people bent on destruction or a least a few pranks. An 8 p.m. curfew for children under 18 has kept that kind of behavior in check for the past 10 years or so in Peabody.

Even though the city council revoked the curfew this year, a group of students from Peabody-Burns High School decided to forgo a return to destructive behavior.

Members of the sophomore class spent the evening downtown passing out candy to children who come out for the annual Halloween Trunk or Treat event.

“Max Caldwell came up with the idea,” PBHS sophomore Hunter Wilson said. “I think because we always had the Trunk or Treat to attend as children and he thought it would fun to give the younger people the ‘funnest’ Halloween possible.”

Caldwell said he got the idea talking to Linda Miles Martinez, owner of Manestreet Beautique.

“She was cutting my hair and we got to talking about community projects,” he said. “She said she thought we should set up for this and give people a chance to see that we are involved in things. That way they will get to know who we are.”

“I thought it sounded like it would be fun,” he added.

Caldwell brought the topic up at school and got a positive response from his classmates.

“We talked about it and decided to try it,” he said. “It seemed like a better thing to be doing than just doing ordinary student stuff on Halloween.”

The sophomores arrived downtown at 4 p.m. and began draping spider web material, cutouts, props, and balloons across the trunk of a 1968 Chevy c10 pickup that belongs to Tim Caldwell, Max’s father. They got more into the spirit of things with face paint, some costume additions, and masks after the pickup bed was ready for trick or treaters.

“For us, it was mainly an event to use to show people that we as a class care about our community,” class member Breanna Lett said. “I would like people to know our class is a great class with more ideas to come — you will definitely see us again.”

Wilson agreed.

“I think our class has the most caring kids in it,” he said. “We like to get out and do stuff together as much as possible. I think our class just likes to give back to the community that raised us up to be the people we are today.”

Caldwell credits Martinez for sharing ideas of community improvement and progress with him.

“She wants to help me make Peabody into the town I wanted to grow up in — where other kids will want grow up and be a part of things,” he said.

Sharon Matz, district visual arts instructor and class sponsor, noted that this class is no stranger to this kind of activity.

“They decided on their own to participate in Trunk or Treat. I think they just decided it would be a cool thing to do,” she said. “They want to be active in the community and support their friends and neighbors.”

“They are an amazing group of kids. I am not surprised that they would come up with something like this,” she added.

As dusk fell Monday night, the crowds thinned and a chilly breeze began to blow. The sophomores cleaned off Tim Caldwell’s pickup, gathered their decorations and headed home, apparently unaware Peabody Main Street, sponsor of Trunk or Treat, was offering cash prizes for the best-decorated trunks and they were winners of $100 for first place.

It was a fitting end to a nice story of young people doing something for all the right reasons.

Last modified Nov. 3, 2016

 

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