Over 600 Kids at Wesley’s Trunk N Treats
by Barbara Hiura
The blood sucking vampires were out, ghouls, ghosts and goblins too. Of Course… It’s Halloween and what a record-breaking evening it turned out to be at the Wesley annual Trunk N Treats event taking place on Oct. 31, in our 5th St. parking lot in Japantown.
Our 5th street parking lot with 11 cars was bustling with activity. We saw over 600 children and youngsters, including parents, grandparents, families, and pets, streaming through this All Hallows Eve. And yay….no rain! What an evening of pure fun and joy, especially with San Jose Taiko drumming and providing an air full of excitement and indeed a sugar high among the kids that was uncontained. It was an awesome experience, especially for all who participated in this annual Japantown event.
We ran out of candy and toys before the end of the evening, but it was pretty close to perfect. Our decked out cars pleased the crowd and Mark Teagle’s Peanuts car with its high res flat screen showing “it’s a Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown” was a highlight with children focusing more on the flying ace Snoopy than the candy being handed out. Awesome! And for the first time, we were fortunate to have three cars from the San Jose State University car club grace our parking lot with college-aged students providing that extra energy and excitement. We thank Jake Shimada for arranging for their participation throughout Japantown and we enjoyed the company of Rodmen, Rihanna, Kalib and An. These young people brought energy and a much needed freshness and revitalization with their exuberance to our event. What a plus.
Hats off to our ministry cars: Missions, with John Tanaka, Judy Yasutake, Judie Kanemoto, and John’s special friend; Nichigo, with Mimune and Mieko Tsukamoto, and Akiko Buchanan; the United Women in Faith, Terri Koike and Cynthia Fukuda; Compassion ministry, Joy and Jim Bayler; Monday Morning Bible Study, Hector and Bev Acuna; Food Distribution Ministry, Jill and Jeremy Aragaki; and Music Ministry Barbara Mulford and Barbara Hiura.
Special thanks go out to Kelli Martines who provided dinner for all of us; Kelvin Kamachi and Jeffrey Oldham who were safety patrol guards from Japantown Prepared; and Ryan Miyahara who was a treat runner supplying all the cars. This event and our church’s presence could not have taken place without the participation of all these individuals as well as a shout-out to all those in the congregation who donated candy, etc. to this outreach ministry.
A final huge thank you to San Jose Taiko, Franco Imperial, in particular, who created this Halloween In Japantown program which involves the whole area, merchants and organizations, with a children’s story on how to be safe, followed by taiko drumming with the intent of making it not only mesmerizing for children, but foremost, keeping them safe in our neighborhood as they go out trick or treating. This year’s event was dedicated to the memory of Police Officer Rich Saito, who for decades was the narrator in the safety program story.
The blood sucking vampires were out, ghouls, ghosts and goblins too. Of Course… It’s Halloween and what a record-breaking evening it turned out to be at the Wesley annual Trunk N Treats event taking place on Oct. 31, in our 5th St. parking lot in Japantown.
Our 5th street parking lot with 11 cars was bustling with activity. We saw over 600 children and youngsters, including parents, grandparents, families, and pets, streaming through this All Hallows Eve. And yay….no rain! What an evening of pure fun and joy, especially with San Jose Taiko drumming and providing an air full of excitement and indeed a sugar high among the kids that was uncontained. It was an awesome experience, especially for all who participated in this annual Japantown event.
We ran out of candy and toys before the end of the evening, but it was pretty close to perfect. Our decked out cars pleased the crowd and Mark Teagle’s Peanuts car with its high res flat screen showing “it’s a Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown” was a highlight with children focusing more on the flying ace Snoopy than the candy being handed out. Awesome! And for the first time, we were fortunate to have three cars from the San Jose State University car club grace our parking lot with college-aged students providing that extra energy and excitement. We thank Jake Shimada for arranging for their participation throughout Japantown and we enjoyed the company of Rodmen, Rihanna, Kalib and An. These young people brought energy and a much needed freshness and revitalization with their exuberance to our event. What a plus.
Hats off to our ministry cars: Missions, with John Tanaka, Judy Yasutake, Judie Kanemoto, and John’s special friend; Nichigo, with Mimune and Mieko Tsukamoto, and Akiko Buchanan; the United Women in Faith, Terri Koike and Cynthia Fukuda; Compassion ministry, Joy and Jim Bayler; Monday Morning Bible Study, Hector and Bev Acuna; Food Distribution Ministry, Jill and Jeremy Aragaki; and Music Ministry Barbara Mulford and Barbara Hiura.
Special thanks go out to Kelli Martines who provided dinner for all of us; Kelvin Kamachi and Jeffrey Oldham who were safety patrol guards from Japantown Prepared; and Ryan Miyahara who was a treat runner supplying all the cars. This event and our church’s presence could not have taken place without the participation of all these individuals as well as a shout-out to all those in the congregation who donated candy, etc. to this outreach ministry.
A final huge thank you to San Jose Taiko, Franco Imperial, in particular, who created this Halloween In Japantown program which involves the whole area, merchants and organizations, with a children’s story on how to be safe, followed by taiko drumming with the intent of making it not only mesmerizing for children, but foremost, keeping them safe in our neighborhood as they go out trick or treating. This year’s event was dedicated to the memory of Police Officer Rich Saito, who for decades was the narrator in the safety program story.
The children filled our parking lot, but were so orderly, and all very cute.
We welcomed the San Jose State University Car Club brought in by Jake Shimada and seen here with An, a friend, and Rodman as the taco guy.
Terri Koike as Abe Lincoln with pumpkin, Cynthia Fukuda.
Jill and Jeremy Aragaki were also new to our Trunk n Treats event.
We welcomed Joy and Jim (not shown) Bayler to our parking lot.
Kelvin Kamachi and his monster dog Willow, was part of our safety patrol.
Rihanna and Kalib were also part of the SJSU Car Club and all expressed that they had a great time.
Barbara Mulford joined with our Disney characters, Mickey (Hector) Acuna and Minnie (Bev Acuna) Mouse.
Also joining in were Snoopy (Barbara Hiura) and Good Old Charlie Brown (Mark Teagle)
Mieko Tsukamoto and Akiko Buchannan brought cheer to the children.
Warren and Jane Hayashi
Everyone was having a good time even the pets!
Posted in Newsletter 2024-11-21