ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — It's been a scary year and the monster to blame is COVID-19.
But that didn't stop safe Halloween events from going on.
St. Louis County Police officer Brandon McCrary is also a neighborhood police officer in Jennings. He wanted to continue this annual Halloween event at the Gary Gore Community Center.
But he knew changes needed to be made.
"It looks a lot different. This year we had to do outside," he said.
Usually, this fun festivity is inside and packed.
But this year, it's in the parking lot.
Cars could drive up or kids could walk up.
As health officials recommended, all the candy is placed in individual bags to be safe
McCrary has been looking at the numbers and was worried this event almost came to a screeching halt.
"I was hoping we were able to do this since there was surges," he says.
With some magic, the event continued.
For Jennings dad David Etuk, he was excited to bring his 9-year-old.
Stuck in virtual learning, he said this gave his son a chance to live a little.
"The pandemic has kept a lot of people in the house. It gives the opportunity to come out and be a community again," Etuk added.
McCrary said that's all he wanted: For kids to remember the joy in life.
"Give these kids some normalcy and some safe fun from COVID," he said.
In a year of tricks, still having some safe fun is definitely a treat.
"A lot of the kids said we really needed this. We really need this break from staying in the house and actually having fun for Halloween," he said.
There were many other safe events on Halloween.
Soulard and the Central West End opted for some virtual events to keep the Halloween spirit alive.