SALEM EVENTS

PHOTOS: Halloween gets “re-engineered” for kids visiting Gilbert House

Chocolate tastes better when it’s shot from the mouth of a dragon.

That’s the idea behind the Gilbert House Children’s Museum’s annual “Halloween Re-Engineered” event, which draws dozens of kids for a creative take on trick-or-treating.

What began as a pandemic effort to give candy out in a socially-distant fashion has become an annual affair with trolley, dragon and erector set delivery systems for candy.

Finnick Kellebrew shows his happiness at the full size candy bar delivered by the trolley at the Halloween “Re-Engineered “event held at Gilbert House Children’s Museum, on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)
One of the engineered designs to blast candy out to attendees at the Halloween “Re-Engineered “event held at Gilbert House Children’s Museum, on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)
Paul Sund, 6, gives his approval to making a ghost at the Halloween “Re-Engineered “event held at Gilbert House Children’s Museum, on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)
Noah, Emmett, and Wyatt Hibbits turn out in force in dragon costumes at the Halloween “Re-Engineered “event held at Gilbert House Children’s Museum, on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)
Frida Camargo, 5, was enjoying trick or treating at the Halloween “Re-Engineered “event held at Gilbert House Children’s Museum, on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)
The erector set was a necessary component in the festivities at the Halloween “Re-Engineered “event held at Gilbert House Children’s Museum, on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)
There was candy, but Holly Hidden, 2, was much more into eating pizza at the Halloween “Re-Engineered “event held at Gilbert House Children’s Museum, on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)
A table full of trick or treaters makes crafts at the Halloween “Re-Engineered “event held at Gilbert House Children’s Museum, on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)
Tyler Swift makes a ghost at the Halloween “Re-Engineered “event held at Gilbert House Children’s Museum, on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)
There was no escape from ghouls and dragons even in the parking lot as Dexter Valdez, 12, and Malachi Valdez, 9 proved outside the Halloween “Re-Engineered “event held at Gilbert House Children’s Museum, on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)

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Laura Tesler has lived in Salem, Oregon for 20 years and is originally from Flint, MI. Laura has been an underwater photographer for 15 years, and is an avid scuba diver. Topside, she has been taking photographs since age 12, and currently works on assignment for the Salem Reporter, and full time purchasing land for fish and wildlife habitat in the Willamette Valley. Laura attended Oregon State University, and has traveled extensively all over the world and the United States.

David Carlson for Marion County Circuit Court Judge Oregon