By Brandon Davenport, Chadron State Foundation
This Halloween, around 200 Chadron-area trick-or-treaters donned their costumes and took to the outdoors to enjoy the first-ever Trick-or-Trails, presented by the Northwest Nebraska Trails Association.
The Halloween hike covered about .4-miles on a mostly paved trail southwest of Chadron State College near Briggs Pond on the Harold and Laverne Thompson Natural History Preserve. Volunteers from NNTA and the community were stationed along the trail to offer candy to trick-or-treaters of all ages.
“The NNTA is excited to have provided an opportunity to local children and adults to experience the joys of our local trails,” Brittany Helmbrecht, NNTA chair, said. “We’re thankful to all who came out for this inaugural event, and I appreciate the volunteers and their willingness to dress up, brave the cold and help make the event the overwhelming success that it was.”
Helmbrecht said the association is looking forward to hosting the event again and plans to also add other, kid-friendly hikes throughout the coming year.
In addition to standard Halloween fare, the NNTA also offered trick-or-treaters crayons, and hot cocoa to help beat the cold. Goodies were provided by Chadron Walmart, CSC College Relations, the Chadron Chamber of Commerce and individual NNTA members. Volunteers included members of the association and the community.
Just prior to its start, NNTA member Brandon Davenport, who along with Helmbrecht and fellow NNTA member Kate Pope, organized Trick-or-Trails, was unsure what to expect from the event.
“Any time you add a new public event to an already busy holiday calendar, you wonder how much participation you’re going to get,” said NNTA member Brandon Davenport. “But the community came through in a big way. We saw a lot of smiles, handed out a lot of candy and hopefully introduced people to the fact that we have a lot of great trails in this area – some practically in our backyard.”
The Northwest Nebraska Trails Association formed in early 2017 when a group of outdoor recreationists saw the need for a local organization to support the development, promotion and maintenance of the nearly 200 miles of trails in the region. To support the NNTA, or to join, visit www.nwnebraskatrails.com.
