C RY D E R
P O I N T
NOBEMBER 14
Queens County Farm hosts trick-or-treaters
for socially distanced Halloween celebration
BY DEAN MOSES
editorial@qns.com @QNS
For many, the scariest thing about
Halloween this year was the prospect of
it being canceled due to the COVID-19
pandemic.
However, much to the delight of Queens
children all over the borough, the Queens
Country Farm Museum held a trick-ortreating
event on Oct. 31.
From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., the iconic farmland
played host to a sold-out ticketed affair
which allowed children to explore the 47-
acre grounds and safely trick-or-treat while
maintaining social distancing protocols.
Children of all ages barreled through
fallen auburn leaves, touting buckets
shaped like pumpkins brimming with
chocolate. Parents and guardians scrambled
after kids that had — just for one
day — been transformed into monsters,
superheroes, and even first responders.
Like zombies craving brains, these mini
ghouls and ghosts had one objective in
mind: candy. After months of uncertainty,
Halloween was underway.
Tabletops decorated with bite-sized
confectionery were peppered around
the estate, creating pitstops for children
to procure sweets beside barns, chicken
coops, cow pastures, flowerbeds and a
pumpkin patch. Some of these makeshift
stands held other treats, too, such as
bubble bottles and worms families could
take home and place in their gardens to
improve the soil and plant life. Whereas
some were apprehensive to take a coffee
cup filled with earthworms, a mother and
daughter combo dressed as two bright,
pink sharks jumped at the chance to see
everything the farm had to offer.
“We moved to Queens last year, and I’ve
been here as a teacher and as a child, and
I wanted to bring my daughter this time
for the first time this year,” said Niaren
DeSilva, who originally planned to take
her 1 ½-year-old pumpkin picking at the
Queens County Farm Museum, but when
the tickets sold out, she was happy to
learn about this Halloween event.
“I was definitely worried that we
wouldn’t be able to trick-or-treat and do all
of the fun seasonal things, but I was happy
to find this and be able to socially distance
and have fun,” said DeSilva. The highlight
for DeSilva was seeing the animals on the
farm and observing the children’s intricate
costumes, and, of course, being able to
trick-or-treat during these uncertain times.
In addition to collecting all things
sugary, visitors could enjoy exploring
a massive and rather
spooky corn maze, embarking
on rumbling
hayrides pulled by large
tractors, feasting on
freshly roasted corn shish
kabobs, and taking selfies
in a flower garden
housing animal-shaped
plants and walls overgrown
with vivid flowers.
This laundry list of activities
made Queens Country
Farm Museum the place to
spend Halloween, bringing
such famous faces as Pennywise
the clown from Stephen King’s
novel and terrifying Camp Crystal
Lake resident Jason Voorhees.
The Vanbrunt family were
dressed to impress as horror
movie all-stars. Their
14-year-old son, Andy Rodriguez,
donned a classic
“Friday the 13th” hockey
mask. While only being
permitted to watch a
few of these slasher
flicks, the costume was
inspired by the online
multiplayer video game
of the same name. “We were
all dressing up as scary characters
and Jason is the coolest
14 CRYDER POINT COURIER | NOVEMBER 2020 | WWW.QUEENSCOURIER.COM
scary character to me.
I like the game and I
watched the 2008 film,”
Rodriguez said.
Karina Vanbrunt has
taken her children to the
Queens County
Farm Museum
for many years,
and usually in
October they enjoy
the fall festivity of
pumpkin picking.
“This is the
first time we’ve
done the Halloween
on the
farm though,
we always come
pumpkin picking
so when we saw
they were having
a Halloween
thing we
decided to give
it a try,” Karina
Vanbrunt said.
Photos by Dean Moses
She added that she was uncertain how
the holiday was going to turn out for her
children.
“We were hesitant about physically
trick-or-treating, usually around Glendale,
where I live, it gets really crowded
every year. So, we wanted to find a place
that was outdoors and had an open space
where we could decide to leave if it got
too crowded. That’s the reason why we
decided to come to the farm.”
Their youngest son, 7-year-old Caden
Rodriguez dressed as Pennywise the
Dancing Clown the latest adaptation of
the horror classic “IT,” while his 3-yearold
sister, Maya, wore a yellow raincoat
with white face paint and blood to represent
the departed Georgie who meets his
demise at the hands of Pennywise.
“I like Pennywise because it is horror
and I like horror movies,” Caden Rodriguez
said.
Queens County Farm Museum didn’t
just transform their site into a spooktacular
event; they made it a haven for families
to feel some sort of normalcy during what
has already been a scary year.
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