Montgomery Police Department’s free Halloween safety event set this Sunday

Event will be on police station grounds and feature games, giveaways and food trucks

The Rotary Club of Montgomery provided families at the Montgomery Police Department's annual Halloween safety event on Sunday with small pumpkins and design kits for fun and easy to do pumpkin decorating before Halloween.

The Montgomery Police Department will host its seventh annual Halloween safety event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 10, at the police department’s campus at 10 Civic Center Avenue on the village’s west side.

The entire event will take place outdoors to ensure social distancing and safety for participants. This year, the event will feature three local food trucks, games, crafts, giveaways and safety education. Parking will be available onsite.

“This event is what this job is about, safety and community engagement; it helps to have some fun while doing just that,” said Cmdr. Liz Palko, lead organizer of the event.

The Halloween safety event will feature several stations where kids can learn and interact with the Montgomery police officers. In addition, there will be a touch-a-truck station where kids can see the inside of various police and public works vehicles, games and crafts, candy and prizes.

“We are grateful to the many community businesses that have donated candy, prizes and gift baskets for us to give away to the participants,” Palko said. This year’s event sponsors are The Lakone Company, Ozinga, Chicago Flameproof, Barrett’s Soft Water Service, Coffman Truck Sales, RJ Keck Pipe & Supply, Bank of Montgomery, Montgomery Foundation, Golden China Buffet, Exhaust Works, Grandma’s Table, and Aurora Metals. Additionally, many local businesses have donated candy, supplies, prizes and gift certificates. These businesses include but are not limited to Parkside Lanes, Rosati’s Pizza, Batteries Plus, Papa Johns, EBY Brown, Performance Foods, Wendy’s, Comcast, Jimmy John’s, Kendall 11, Earthmovers Credit Union, Molli Baumann – Scentsy, Ridge Ambulance, State Farm, Dollar General and Atrevete Confections.

Visitors are encouraged to wear costumes and can participate in a traditional costume contest complete with trophies. New this year, three local food vendors will be on-site selling food for those looking to make a day of it. Food options include Dick’s Donuts, Grumpy Gaucho and Homerun Hot Dogs. The entire event will take place outdoors; dress for the weather. Masks are encouraged but optional since this is an outdoor event.

Advance registration is not required. Information is available on the village website at MontgomeryIL.org and the Montgomery Police Department Facebook page.