File photo A robot and a witch helped divvy out candy to the roughly 800 children and parents who were in attendance for last year's Trunk or Treat at the Larry Joe Harless Community Center in Gilbert. 

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Chad Abshire

Staff Writer

GILBERT — Door-to-door trick-or-treating is so passé.

Luckily, there’s an alternative to the yearly grind of walking from house to house, ringing doorbells and asking the same old question.

It’s called Trunk or Treat, and it’s in its third iteration this year. The Larry Joe Harless Community Center and the Town of Gilbert have partnered together to sponsor this year’s event on Oct. 30, from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m.

A Trunk or Treat is a community-sponsored Halloween event in which people gather, park their cars and open up their trunks or the backs of their vehicles and decorate them, providing a safe family environment for the countless ghouls, ghosts, princesses, fairies, pirates, ninjas and so on.

The best decorated trunk will win an annual family LJHCC membership.

And there are a variety of ways to successfully decorate one’s trunk; such as the obvious choices of using pumpkins, spider webs, witch brooms, bats, bubbling cauldrons filled to their brims with magical concoctions and other generally scary stuff.

However, according to a press release from the LJHCC about the event, “the best way to plan your trunk is to pick a theme.”

“Think of it like dressing yourself in a costume,” the release stated. “Some theme ideas include the 70s, Mother Goose, a circus, a beach or a zookeeper.”

“We are always looking for opportunities to assist the children in the area to have a safe, fun place to be,” LJHCC Executive Director Cheryl Mitchem said. “The Trunk or Treat was a great way to bring families, businesses and organizations together. The response to this event has been great and we hope to continue to provide this program annually.”

Last year’s event, despite cold, rainy weather, handed out candy and fun to more than 800 children and parents.

The Town of Gilbert will also observe door-to-door trick-or-treating from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. on the same day, Oct. 30, in addition to the Trunk or Treat event.

To register your trunk or for more information, contact the LJHCC at 304-664-2500.