On Thursday, Oct. 30, Manual students gave out candy at a Trunk or Treat on Burnett Avenue in front of Manual Stadium. There were around a dozen and a half decorated cars, and they usually had two students each.
The students whose car had the best decorations, as voted by “secret judges” (according to Manual administration), won a free prom ticket and extra seats at graduation.
Serin Neo (12, VA) and Myna Nguyen (12, VA) painted cardboard cutouts to look like characters from the “Peanuts” Halloween cartoon.
“We spent this entire week making those cutouts every morning,” Neo said. Woolen leaves hung from a vine that they’d suspended from one end of their open trunk door to another, which Nguyen crocheted.
Keane Gleeson came by with his wife, dog and two-year-old daughter.
“We went up to George Rogers Clark Park and then we walked back this way and we figured we’d hit it up on the way home,” he said.
Ellie Moses (12, VA) and Kelsey Sharma (12, VA) set up a ghost tea party, complete with doilies and crystal cups, both thrifted. Sharma provided a bowl of dry ice.
Some families, even ones who lived in the immediate area, had not heard about the event, but parents and kids still turned out in the high dozens. Manual faculty brought their children.
“Today was a great success,” said Manual administrator and event proctor Dawn Roy. “We had a lot of turnout from staff and students, and it was a really great time.”
