Swiped Halloween Candy Bowl In Greenport Sparks Community Caring

GREENPORT, NY —In a disturbing trend that has outraged and disheartened residents and parents, who are speaking out on social media, some kids have been handing out tricks for treats — taking not just the candy from doorsteps across Long Island and the country, but the entire bowl.

And, despite the backlash the trend has received, with many calling for old-fashioned parenting and repercussions for sticky-fingered kids, in Greenport, what came after the theft of a wooden bowl painted a picture of small village caring — and what North Forkers love most about living in the place they call home.

On Tuesday, Candice Schott posted a photo of a wooden bowl on the Let's Talk Village of Greenport Facebook page. She said that the bowl had been found in the road, without candy, in the middle of Cedarfields Drive.

"If anyone knows to whom it belongs, I'll drop it off," she said.

Within four hours, the delighted owner had been found, and plans were made to return the bowl to its rightful owner.

Greenport Village Trustee Mary Bess Phillips said it was important to focus on the good. "Many of the posts about trick or treating this past Halloween were sharing the positive, including leaving a thank you note. Most actions have a reaction." She also applauded Greenport's "sense of community — in communicating, and in turning a negative into a positive."

Meanwhile, Halloween bowl heists have parents shaking their collective heads across the canvas. One parent expressed concerns about the issue on the Lindenhurst Moms Facebook page and said parents needed to teach their kids right from wrong. "Be parents, not friends," she wrote.

Social media was peppered with photos and videos of swiped Halloween bowls this season. Some pondered that kids probably weren't focused on the bowls at all, but on the glory of getting all the candy

And in Layton, Utah, a family has reached out, imploring whoever took it, to please return their Halloween candy bowl, which is irreplaceable — their only Halloween decoration from their child's grandparents, who passed away before she could meet them, according to KSLTV.com.

Some parents have decided to get creative in the face of the bowl caper, vowing to replace precious or sentimental bowls next year with decorated cardboard.

And for every negative story on social media, there was another reminding all that good can still be found. His son saw one bowl empty, said Long Island's Ryan Bonner — and went back to put three pieces of his own candy inside, so the next child wouldn't be left empty-handed.