Community Corner

Malverne Trick-or-Treating Event Canceled

Village asks organizers not to go through with "flash mob" as post-Sandy recovery efforts continue.

UPDATE: As Malverne continues to recover from Hurricane Sandy Wednesday, village officials have asked Don Pupke to consider canceling the impromptu trick-or-treating event he and other parents were planning to hold in Reese Park tonight.

Pupke had suggested families gather inside the park near the train station around 7 p.m. to celebrate Halloween, exchange candy and let the kids show off their costumes while avoiding the village's streets, which are still riddled with downed trees and power lines. However, he was advised Wednesday morning that he should not proceed with the plan by Malverne's Office of Emergency Management, who said the village is still in the process of trying to recover from the hurricane and there are many crews working throughout the area. They were afraid the gathering would impeded recovery efforts or pose a danger to participants. As of 10:30 a.m., more than 2,100 residents of the village werestill without power.

Pupke agreed to the request to cancel the event, adding, "These people are working extremely hard to get the Village back on line and our lives back to normal."

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-Original Story-

Trick-or-treating has become trickier in Malverne this Halloween as the village and surrounding neighborhoods recover from the destruction of Hurricane Sandy.

Find out what's happening in Malverne-Lynbrookwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

With wires and trees down throughout the neighborhood and more than 2,000 homes in the village still coping with power outages, many parents were anxious about taking their kids trick-or-treating on Wednesday, Oct. 31. But late Tuesday night, Malvernite Don Pupke came up with a plan to essentially save Halloween.

Posting in the "I Love Malverne  ... our village, our schools and our merchants" Facebook page, Pupke wrote:

"Hey, let's have all the trick or treaters converge on the Malverne train station park at 7 p.m. It's well-lit, safe and all the parents can bring candy to give to the kids. We can save Halloween with a ghoulish flash mob."

Pupke's plan was well-received by fellow residents including Jacqueline Garay, who started spreading the word with her circle of Facebook friends, saying:

"Save Halloween!! Sandy may have downed our trees and left us in the dark but she can not ruin Halloween. Malvernite Don Pupke had a wonderful idea! Tomorrow night at 7:00 pm bring your little witches and ghouls and lots of teeth rotting candy for the 1st annual Halloween Flash mob to take place on church street at the park by Malverne train station.. See you there!!! Help spread the word."


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