Community Connections Take Center Stage at W.P. Franklin's Fourth Annual Trunk or Treat
Park rangers, staff and volunteers organized the event, which drew 270 participants, including an estimated 200 trick-or-treaters - up from about 150 total participants last year.
Behind that growth were partnerships bringing USACE park personnel, emergency responders, county agencies, a local church and volunteers together to connect with the community.
For Megan Parsons, Lead Park Ranger and event coordinator, the gathering has grown beyond its modest beginnings outside the visitor center.
“I love Halloween, and we originally started this event because I love planning events and, at the time, the volunteers and I decided to do just a small trunk-or-treat in the park,” Parsons said.
That small gathering has since expanded into a celebration spread across a 4.5-acre field, giving community partners more room to participate and families more opportunities to connect.
For first responders, the event offered a chance to meet residents outside an emergency.
TJ Forell, an emergency medical technician with Lee County Emergency Medical Services, said he welcomed the opportunity to participate. He said they’re always looking for new and engaging ways to reach the public, interact with the community and build awareness of their work.
Capt. Ben Poulton of Fort Myers Shores Fire/Rescue’s Engine Company 82 shared that enthusiasm.
“The station has been supporting this event the past three to four years and we always take this opportunity to come out to not only support the community outreach event and say hi to the public but to also raise awareness for fire safety as October is Fire Prevention Month,” Poulton said.
Poulton and engineer Curt Peterson showed aspiring firefighter Sawyer around the fire engine and posed for a photo with him on the truck.
Elsewhere, representatives from the Mosquito Control District of Lee County combined candy with a practical message. At their decorated trunk and table, they handed out Dum-Dum lollipops and mosquito repellent wipes, encouraging visitors to ‘don’t be a dum-dum; dump and drain standing water.’
For Nancy Ryback and her husband, members of Bethlehem Lutheran Church, a walk on the park’s nature trail led to their involvement. After noticing signs advertising the event, they stopped at the visitor center to learn more.
As first-time participants, the couple handed out candy to visiting ghouls, goblins and princesses. Before the celebration ended, Ryback was already thinking about returning.
That willingness to help was also at work behind the scenes. Volunteers Cassie Cullen and Olga Cupo worked alongside Parsons to coordinate local partner participation and develop decorating ideas for the event.
Cupo, who has volunteered at W.P. Franklin for four years and supported the Trunk or Treat event for two, helped decorate a Polaris off-road vehicle with dried grass and flowers gathered from the W.P. Franklin South’s nature area.
Another contribution gave families a place to capture memories of the day.
Simon Wallace, a Boy Scout with Troop 8463 in Cape Coral, built the stage as his Eagle Scout service project. Sitting on the completed structure, he described how conversations with the park rangers helped shape the idea.
“The rangers said they needed something to use when they hosted events in the open field so I thought this would be an awesome place to have a stage to help bring community events to the area,” Wallace said.
This year’s Trunk or Treat marked the stage’s first official use. For Wallace, seeing it decorated and ready for visitors brought the project’s purpose to life.
“I am incredibly excited to see it being used and hopefully it will be used for more than just the trunk or treat event, and more like a place for other events as well,” said Wallace.
From the stage to the decorated trunks, the celebration reflected the work of people willing to contribute their time, skills and ideas. For returning families, those efforts have become part of an annual tradition.
Bridgette Theriault attended with her children Elise and Jace, dressed as Jess and Buzz Lightyear from Disney’s Toy Story movie franchise. Her family has watched the event grow since its first year.
“We absolutely love going to the trunk or treat at W.P. Franklin! We’ve been taking our kids there for the last four years and each year it gets bigger and better. It’s a great way to bring the community together. The volunteers and park staff that support the event do a great job. We are already looking forward to next year,” Theriault said.
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