Title 1 reading teacher Megan Fogarty and her dog Wendell, the FCTS comfort dog, hand out candy at the trunk-or-treat event. (Photo courtesy Franklin County Technical School) 
Math teacher Jim Barry hands out candy Thursday night at FCTS. (Photo courtesy Franklin County Technical School) 
Principal’s Assistant Heather Poirier hands out candy. (Photo courtesy Franklin County Technical School) 
One of nearly 20 vehicles decorated for the event was a spooky pumpkin patch. (Photo courtesy Franklin County Technical School) 
The school’s eagle mascot was on hand to entertain visitors. as they made their way through the line. (Photo courtesy Franklin County Technical School) 
Hundreds of trick-or-treaters showed up for the event Thursday night. (Photo courtesy Franklin County Technical School) 
A trick-or-treater dressed as Winnie the Pooh goes down the line of vehicles. (Photo courtesy Franklin County Technical School) 
A team of ghosts representing Girl Scout Troop 64792 out of Greenfield staffed one of the vehicles. (Photo courtesy Franklin County Technical School) 
15-month-old Alina, one of the younger trick-or-treaters at the event, takes some candy from her bucket. (Photo courtesy Franklin County Technical School) 
A trick-or-treater dressed as the Hulk makes his way through the line. (Photo courtesy Franklin County Technical School)
TURNERS FALLS — Superintendent Richard Martin is pleased to announce that Franklin County Technical School hosted a successful trunk-or-treat event last week leading up to Halloween weekend.
The event, which has traditionally been billed as “Trek @ Tech,” would involve teachers at the school decorating their classroom doors and trick-or-treaters enjoying an indoor celebration. The event was cancelled last year due to the pandemic, and organizers this year decided to take the event outdoors for safety reasons.
On Thursday, Oct. 28, cars lined the school’s parking lot with decorated trunks, and teachers (as well as a few families) gave out candy to the hundreds of children who attended. The school provided most of the candy, with the rest being donated by the community.
Even before the scheduled 5 p.m. start time families were lining up to visit the approximately 20 vehicles involved.
“We have had to cancel multiple events in the past year, so we knew we had to do something big,” said Director of Technology Jamie Noel, one of the three co-organizers of the event. “We had such incredible support from the whole school, which really helped us pull everything together quickly. I think every single admin member went out and bought candy and helped to get volunteers, and a ton of our academic teachers and shop teachers stepped forward as well. It has been just a huge success.”
Principal’s Assistant Heather Poirier, another of the co-organizers, said the event exceeded her expectations.
“All the costumes are so creative, the weather was perfect, and people were just so happy to be here,” she said. “It’s different from how we traditionally run this event, but everyone got behind it and made it work. Seeing the kids and teachers interacting in a celebration like this, after everything we’ve dealt with, is just really special.”
The third co-organizer of the event was Superintendent’s Assistant Barbara Williams.
Title 1 reading teacher Megan Fogarty’s vehicle was one of the more popular stops for trick-or-treaters, as she was joined by her Labrador Wendell, who is also the school’s comfort dog. Both dressed as scarecrows.
Fogarty, who has been a teacher at the school for well over a decade, said seeing familiar faces was a highlight of the event.
“I’m seeing former students of mine show up and they have kids of their own now,” she said. “The event has a real sense of community.”
But for every visitor who was familiar with the school there were others who just learned about the event.
“I have never been here before and learned about it online and thought it’d be fun,” said Greenfield resident Kate Dias, who was joined by her daughter Grace, dressed as a princess. “I didn’t know what to expect, but it’s just wonderful. Everyone put so much work into planning it, and for the kids it’s exciting to be able to get all dressed up and experience something like this after many of them not being able to last year. I’m so glad we decided to come out.”
In addition to trick-or-treating, the event also included games, crafts and live music.
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