My Halloween at the SV Kids Harvest Festival

Halloween is always full of parties, costumes, and kids running around in the dark night. So this year, my church, South Valley Church, decided to hold an awesome festival for kids to have fun in a safe environment at no charge at all. The Harvest Festival began at 4pm with trick-or-treating at each of our church's classroom doors, then at 5pm the courtyard opened for all kinds of carnival games. Kids, teens, parents, and even all my pastors participated in a series of contests like limbo and hoola hooping on the grass while some were gettin lost in a dark maze set up in one of the classrooms. There was also a big bounce house set up on the playground for kids to enjoy and when anyone needed a bit of a recharger, festive refreshements like Halloween cookies and fun snacks and drinks were available. Servant's hearts filled the volunteer list to host each game station. I teamed up with my brother-in-Christ, Mark, to work the ring toss game where players had four chaces to toss a glow-in-the-dark hoop from a couple feet away and try to ring it around a pumpkin. I gave out candy to those who did not win and a prize for those who did and, let me tell you, ringing a pumpkin isn't as easy as it sounds. The festival ended at 6:30pm and by then parents were happy that the kids had way too much fun and were too tired to go trick-or-treating anymore. Oops. Hopefully next year's Harvest Festival will be filled with even more festivities and families to safely enjoy Halloween. Next up...Thanksgiving!

For more information on South Valley Church in Newhall, Calif., visit http://www.southvalleyonline.org/