By Shana LiVIGNI

The First Baptist Church of La Crescenta, with help from the Christ Armenian Church, is once again celebrating Halloween in a kid-safe and family-friendly surrounding in their upper and lower parking areas this spooky Saturday night from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Last year’s event brought in hundreds of people throughout the evening and was so successful there was no way to keep track of the costumed locals who attended. The Fall Family Festival was created to give the community a safe alternative to trick-or-treating with “trunk or treat” and is free with the exception of purchasing food and drinks. Tyla Break, the church’s friendly librarian, is excited about the Halloween festivities this weekend.

“We have game booths galore where the children, win or lose, get candy prizes and we have a ‘trunkor- treat’ that works just like ‘trick-ortreat’ but with cars and their festive open trunks,” Break explained. “The brightly decorated cars are lined in a semi-circle with their trunks open, filled with a wide variety of donated candy and someone there at each car to give out candy when the kids come by.”

People are invited to bring a cake for the annual cake walk or enter the chili cook-off. Everyone can participate for free in the tasting and voting for the best chili. There’s a food booth to purchase dinner for the family that includes bowls of the homemade chili, hot-dogs, slices of pizza, sodas and water and coffee. Always a favorite of all ages: free popcorn and sticky delicious cotton candy!

The kids can participate in about 20 game booths that include Cat and Mouse Golf, Clown Toss, Peanut Drop, Chicken in a Pot, Floating Ducks, Race Car Derby, Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin, Ping Pong Race, Fishing for Prizes, Goldfish Toss (win a pet fishy!) and many more, even the ever-popular jumper/bounce house. This year the church is welcoming a new “treat” – a magician that tells bible stories through magic beginning at 7 p.m.

“This year, we are honoring the firefighters and the law enforcement and their families by offering them a free dinner and also thanking them throughout the evening for what they’ve done for the whole community,” Break said.

First Baptist Church is located at 4441 La Crescenta Ave. For more information or donations, call (818) 249-5832 or visit www.fbclc.org.