By Annie Pulley

Candy, costume and community are the pillars of Hillcrest Bible Church’s annual Triple Treat festival in Oregon, Wisconsin.

Triple Treat offers school children, teenagers, families and community members the chance to debut their Halloween personas a week early. This year, Hillcrest congregants worked tirelessly and creatively amidst unforgiving weather to spread the joy of Hillcrest to the Village of Oregon.

Normally, Triple Treat resembles a carnival. It offers games, crafts and food free of charge. The event usually takes place in the Oregon high school and has been known to crowd the already spacious gym.

With pandemic-induced confusion, Triple Treat 2020 looked a little different. In response to renewed COVID-19 restrictions, the team at Hillcrest had to become creative once more.

*Erin Courts, Hillcrest’s children ministry coordinator, and Tyler Schonrock, the student ministries pastor, were the masterminds behind Triple Treat 2021. To reduce crowd sizes, Courts and Schonrock focused the Halloween-themed activities in 16 stations across the village. The event ran from 3:30 to 6 p.m. on Oct. 24 and was rebranded Triple Treat: Choose Your Own Adventure.

Most stations were settled in the garages and driveways of Hillcrest members. Families interested in attending simply required a copy of the station guide and map provided on Hillcrest’s website.  

Persistent rain shuttled the stations under tents and into garages.

Safely shielded from the elements within the adapted garage of station 11, Jennifer Schmitt, a congregant and volunteer, explained the mission of Triple Treat and Hillcrest more broadly: “We support Oregon. We’re here for you. If you ever need any spiritual guidance, we’d be the place to come.” Participants continued to stream into the garage. 

As some children tossed bean bags, a soldier, various ghosts, a referee, an M&M, and several other characters enjoyed the provided refreshments and conversation of station 11.

Across the street, station number four provided yet another game. Playing to music, costumed kids stepped through a circle of Halloween-themed images placed on the driveway. When the music stopped, the participant standing on the image called out by the announcer was ejected from the game. The last character standing won the candy. 

Katherine Wille, directing the game at that station, explained that she has been volunteering at Triple Treat for years. As Wille noted Hillcrest’s continued need to adapt to changing public health standards, she also maintained a keen eye on the game. She would yell, “Bats!” or “Candy corn!” or “Jack-o’-lantern!” as a disappointed teddy bear or an unsuspecting witch was ejected from the game.

A few blocks away, station 10 sported a crafts table and a firepit. “When they did it at the high school, it was awesome,” a supervising grandmother explained. “It’s really fun, and we really like it. We hope they continue doing it,” a parent said.

Supporting station 10, Courts explained that the adventurous theme of Triple Treat took some out-of-the-box thinking. “It’s kind of forced creativity,” Courts said. To Courts, Hillcrest’s role through Triple Treat is to “be the face of Jesus” to the Oregon community no matter the forecast.

Over at station four, Ricky Boyle, a volunteer and member of Hillcrest, said that over 25 cars had visited through the first part of the evening. While experiencing a temporary lull, other station volunteers had the opportunity to explain the importance of Triple Treat.

Willow Kugel, a youth ministries leader, and Megan Czerwinski, a worship leader at Hillcrest, said that Triple Treat serves to establish new relationships with the community and reinforce existing relationships between the members who serve together. “Let’s have fun. Christians are fun,” Czerwinski explained. Kugel framed Triple Treat as way to break the stigma of the judgmental, isolated church.

Demonstrating the very principle of Christian outreach to approaching guests, Jack Czerwinski, the church’s worship leader, routinely yelled, “Welcome to station four! How’s it going?”

The unstructured nature of the event allowed participants to follow their interests. The other stations included a photo booth, craft tables and a host of other activities. The Oregon Fire Department handed out candy at station eight. But for the rain, live music would have added to the audible experience of the evening at station nine.

The rain may have dampened the event’s sprawl, but the dedicated members of Hillcrest Bible Church made Triple Trip memorable once again. Cars lined the streets of each station. Music, laughter and conversation contradicted the wet and windy October night.

The finale was centered at Oregon high school. Families drove past the school’s entrance through a line of balloons. Volunteers passed out gift bags and waved signs that read “God loves you,” “You rock,” and “See you next year.”

Back at the Hillcrest campus, Schonrock reverberated Triple Treat’s goal. Amidst a culture that often takes an unfavorable view of the church, Hillcrest is “trying to be an open door for our community,” Schonrock said. He explained that Triple Treat is a way to open that door and say, “Hey, our church loves people.”