An estimated 7,000 ghosts and monsters, angels, princesses and clowns and all their friends trick-or-treated at the annual Safe Halloween Oct. 31 at Weatherford College, sponsored by the WC Police Department in partnership with the City of Weatherford Police Department.

Weatherford College was a spooky - but well-lighted and safe - place Halloween night as pint-sized ghosts, goblins, zombies, mummies and monsters trick-or-treated at the annual Safe Halloween.  Joined by dainty princesses and angels, tiny soldiers, cowboys and little police officers, firefighters, and countless other costumed characters, the ghoulies enjoyed a huge bounce house, game booths, face-painting and costume contests throughout the evening and "went home with more candy than they can eat in a month," said WC Chief of Police Paul Stone, who coordinates the event.

"We distributed more than a ton of candy donated by area merchants, service clubs, WC staff and community members, and we collected well over a thousand cans of food which we will be taking to Center of Hope today."

Safe Halloween is a free event for the public to enjoy an evening of worry-free, safe trick-or-treating. Plans already are under way for next year's event, said Stone. The WC Police Department and the City of Weatherford Police Department partner to sponsor the annual Halloween event, and area businesses are invited to participate and set up game booths. Donations of canned food accepted as "admission" are taken later to area food banks.

"Each year, the attendance has increased by about 1,000, and this year, we had an estimated 7,000, maybe a few more, visitors to our campus. It was the biggest and best ever," said Stone. "Every community member I spoke with was totally impressed and very appreciative of our efforts to give their children a safe place to trick or treat, and I want to thank everyone who helped. This giant undertaking cannot be accomplished without the help of lot of great people."

Chief Stone said his department will place an ad in the Nov. 8 edition of the Weatherford Democrat, recognizing those who contributed to the success of Safe Halloween 2009.