BY KIM HARRINGTON
Dressed as Buzz Lightyear, eight-year-old James Paicos waved a light up wand as he ran from one house to another in the senior courts.
James said that his favorite part of the special night at Stonehill College was dressing up early before Halloween.
“I chose to be Buzz Lightyear because he is in my favorite movie, Toy Story,” Jack said. “Getting candy is also my favorite part because now I have extra that I can eat before Halloween, and I will have more on Monday too.”
James and his sister, Kendall, who was dressed as Elsa from Frozen, were with their mother, Caitlyn Paico, of Easton for a night of early trick or treating on Stonehill’s campus Oct. 27. The annual event was hosted by the Residence Hall Association.
“I think it’s a great thing Stonehill is doing, letting all of us come tonight to spend time with our kids and meet all the students at the college. My kids have been talking about coming here all week, so I am glad we had something to look forward to,” Paico said.
Paico and her family went around houses on campus collecting candy for about an hour and a half, before making crafts outside of Duffy.
The families of Easton residents and faculty at Stonehill gathered on campus to go door to door on the first floor of Boland Hall, as well as in the Junior and Senior Courts to trick or treat.
Children of all ages were welcome to participate in the event between 6 and 8 pm.
There were also craft stations set up outside of the Duffy Academic Center, where kids could make spooky drawings and crafts to bring home with them.
To sign up to pass out candy, students were emailed a sheet from the RHA where they put down their residence halls and names.
Skyhawks had to purchase their candy to hand out outside of their houses, but more was provided if they were running low.
About 200 children attended and dressed up in their costumes, alongside their parents.
Many children were dressed as their favorite animals and superheroes, some being a furry lion or a young Superman.
Maeve Cleary, who lives in the senior courts, said that she loved seeing all the little kids’ costumes.
“I saw one boy wearing a sloth costume, which was my favorite one of the night. I love how creative everyone was with their costumes and it felt good to be able to pass out candy and interact with the families," Cleary said. "I'm not able to be home for this Halloween to see trick-or-treaters, so this made up for it."
Picture by Kim Harrington of Stonehill professor Dr. Uhl, her husband and children Emma, Sofia, and Josie