The scene was repeated over and over.
At different times on Wednesday, doors opened outside Barrhead Elementary School to let out streams of running children, their eyes bright with anticipation.
As Co-op staff pulled pumpkins from boxes, children could hardly wait to get their arms around them, to show them to their friends and begin the serious business of carving.
It was an uplifting sight.
In a money-driven age where everything has a price it was heartening to witness simple acts of giving.
The currency in the transactions was kindness and decency, not Canadian dollars.
Such is the bewitching effect of Halloween in Barrhead, a time when horror stories seem confined to the realms of fiction, a time when businesses come together, putting aside rivalries for a common cause.
There is no talk of bottom line, profit margins, cash flow and net income; the only dividend on offer is ensuring a great Halloween.
It is a pity that such unifying acts cannot be replicated more often.
So let us also hear it for the Barrhead Co-op, which each year delivers pumpkins to the schools and organized Monday’s extravaganza at the Paddle River Golf Course.
Let us also hear it for the following businesses and organizations, which set up booths for the Co-op Family Pumpkin Walk, distributing candy and other treats.
Town of Barrhead; Fyfe’s Pharmacy; Champion Feeds; Sanderman Home Hardware &Barrhead Home Building Center; Bethel Pentecostal Church; County of Barrhead; Grizzly Trail Motors; A &W; Thunderlake RV; The Brick, Raptors Minor Football and the Paddle River Golf Course.
Apologies if any of those helping out are not on this list.
Many other businesses – too many to mention – donated towards the pumpkin walk and should also be commended.
There is a lesson here for all of us.
When we appeal to the better angels in our nature, it squeezes cynicism from a community, replacing it with a sense of wellbeing.
There is a feeling of empowerment, a confidence that anything is possible. Trust replaces fear. People feel good about themselves and others.
Barrhead and Districts Co-op general manager Allan Cote described the pumpkin walk as a “fun community” occasion which required a huge army of volunteers.
“We want to promote a safe place for kids to go trick or treating,” he said. “It gives them an alternative to going from door to door.”
At Wednesday’s delivery of pumpkins at the schools, one little boy thought he had missed out.
Ten-year-old Ahmed Abdulhifed came running from one of the front doors, his face masked with concern.
In a heartbeat his look became wreathed with smiles at the sight of a truck bearing surplus pumpkins.
What price to bring such joy to a child?
