Trick-or-treating during COVID: ‘Candypult’ saves Halloween 2020
This 8-year-old Pennsylvania boy became the real-life superhero of his neighborhood on Halloween this year — by building a catapult that launched candy to his friends from a distance.
Eight-year-old Connor Mak, of York County, Pennsylvania, and his father Vince built the contraption together when they couldn’t stand the thought of another COVID cancellation.
“We thought ‘well what if Halloween doesn’t happen? we have to find a way in our neighborhood and community to at least get some candy to kids,’” dad Vince Mak said.
Connor, an avid woodworker, jumped at the chance to bust out his dad’s drill.
“My son loves playing with power tools … so I said to my son, ‘let’s do something like a catapult,’” Mak recalled.
On Saturday, the “candypult” was a hit in the Maks’ front yard, where Connor — dressed as a ninja — slung buckets of candy toward his friends and teen sisters.
In Ridgewood, New Jersey, entrepreneurial twins CJ and Dante Torielli also came up with a solution for socially distanced trick-or-treating — and a way to make a few extra bucks.
The 12-year-olds each pocketed $7 a pop for 10-foot candy slides they distributed to their neighbors, who decked them out in Halloween decor.
“Basically, we’re just trying to keep people safe and happy,” CJ said.