{"id":34809,"date":"2023-11-08T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-09T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=34809"},"modified":"2023-11-09T19:13:51","modified_gmt":"2023-11-09T19:13:51","slug":"trunk-or-treat-uso-fort-cavazos-hosts-trunk-or-treat-for-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=34809","title":{"rendered":"Trunk or Treat: USO Fort Cavazos hosts Trunk or Treat for community"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n The Kerfoot family, Claire, 14, JJ, 9, twins Sarah and Kate, 7, and Jane, 11, poses for a photo during the USO at Fort Cavazos Trunk or Treat with H-E-B Operation Appreciation event Oct. 27 at the Killeen Special Events Center. The family has a 12-year tradition of dressing up. This year, they chose to honor some iconic characters representing their favorite cereals. (U.S. Army photo by Janecze Wright, Fort Cavazos Public Affairs)
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KILLEEN, Texas \u2014 <\/strong>Hundreds came out to enjoy the United Service Organizations at\u00a0Fort Cavazos Trunk or Treat with H-E-B Operation Appreciation event Oct. 27 at the Killeen Special Events Center here.<\/p>\n

Originally slated to be held on Fort Cavazos, the event was moved to the indoor venue because of inclement weather.<\/p>\n

But a few intermittent showers didn\u2019t stop hundreds of attendees who waited outside in long lines, while hundreds more enjoyed the festivities inside.<\/p>\n

Benjamin Griffin explained that the USO at Fort Cavazos partnered with H-E-B for their Operation Appreciation 10-year anniversary, making the annual Halloween event one of the biggest ever.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvents like this is something that\u2019s super exclusive to our active-duty service members and their families. That\u2019s what it\u2019s about,\u201d he said. \u201cWe see all these kids out here dressed up and we have provided a safe environment for them to come enjoy some candy, enjoy a bouncy house, some ice cream, some music and it\u2019s once a year that we\u2019re able to do something like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the smell of barbecue in the air and the upbeat sounds of the 1st Cavalry Division Band entertaining onlookers, the wide-open space bustled with interactive activities, circus performers, face painting stations, games, six large bouncy houses and a huge inflatable slide.<\/p>\n

Because no Trunk or Treat event would be complete without an array of sweet treats, the USO at Fort Cavazos staff and volunteers, along with volunteers from the Directorate of Public Works, 1st Medical Brigade and Cavalry Family Housing, handed out candy.<\/p>\n

The H-E-B mobile kitchen provided barbecue sandwiches, drinks, popcorn and cotton candy. Guests also delighted in using the 360-activation station.<\/p>\n

Military spouse Sandy Kerfoot and her five children made quite a creative and tasty impression dressed as a variety of iconic characters representing their favorite cereals.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the highlight of our Halloween season, picking out costumes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Kerfoot shared that dressing up is a 12-year tradition for her children and the event was a great opportunity to bond with other military families.<\/p>\n

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\n The USO at Fort Cavazos Trunk or Treat with H-E-B Operation Appreciation event Oct. 27 at the Killeen Special Events Center boasted live music, interactive activities, barbecue, ice cream, circus performers, bouncy houses and of course, plenty of candy. (U.S. Army photo by Janecze Wright, Fort Cavazos Public Affairs)
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\u201cIt\u2019s just great to see the whole community out together, making those connections, seeing those same people over and over again.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it wasn\u2019t just the youngsters that showed off their creativity when it came to their Halloween get-ups.<\/p>\n

Dressed as superheroes, the Go Team Therapy\/Crisis Dogs Central Texas joined in the fun and delighted guests with their inventive outfits and friendly dispositions.<\/p>\n

Spc. Brittney Caraway and Spc. Sahria Blanks, 13th Armored Corps Sustainment Command, said the event was a great way for Soldiers to get out and have a good time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important for the unit as a whole to boost morale and get to know each other,\u201d Caraway said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have people that come, dress up, without it being so serious. We can actually have fun together,\u201d Blanks added.<\/p>\n

Griffin estimated that more than 4,500 Soldiers, military families and Halloween enthusiasts attended the event, adding that it\u2019s about serving the military community.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the USO, it\u2019s all about hospitality,\u201d Griffin said. \u201cTouching those folks in ways where they can relax, have a good time and just enjoy themselves. We\u2019re talking just an exceptional amount of things that were put into this, and again, with the weather changing, we could not be happier with the turnout.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was a once in a lifetime thing to partner with H-E-B to be able to put on this amazing gift for the 10-year anniversary of Operation Appreciation,\u201d he added. \u201cAll the stars aligned, and we are just so happy and thrilled to be able to do that to support our community in the best way possible.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Kerfoot family, Claire, 14, JJ, 9, twins Sarah and Kate, 7, and Jane, 11, poses for a photo during the USO at Fort Cavazos Trunk or Treat with H-E-B Operation Appreciation event Oct. 27 at the Killeen Special Events Center. The family has a 12-year tradition of dressing up. This year, they chose to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34811,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34809"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34809\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34814,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34809\/revisions\/34814"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/34811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}