How A Small Downtown Hosts 6,500 Trick-Or-Treaters

Transcript

Downtown Arcadia

Christine 0:04

Hi! Welcome to Arcadia FYI. I know, I know. I’m Christine Zito, really. And I am so glad you’re here. We’re gonna have so much fun on this show, because Arcadia FYI is about fun. And, you know, a little bit of seriousness. Every… I don’t think I’ve ever done anything really serious. But today is gonna be a fun show, and that’s what it’s all about: keeping all of us informed of some of the events, or all the events, that are happening in our community and outside our community. But of course, I first like to thank our sponsors. Longo Toyota, okay, in El Monte. You gotta go by. They’re on a huge lot, a huge acreage of cars and other fun stuff. It’s just not about selling cars. Go by, say hi to Brooke, say hi to Michael. I love those people. Star 7 Financial with Francine Chu. She can keep you up to date with your finances, your investments, even finances for your children’s education. She is just very good at what she does. Santa Anita Park! Yeah, the races are gonna be opening up here soon, the day after Christmas. Oh my gosh, it’s already Christmas. But that’s when the first day of opening happens. Not only that, we’re gonna be hosting the 2028 Olympics. So looking forward to that. And of course, the Le Méridien Hotel right here in our hometown of Arcadia. All right. I know if you’re watching on YouTube, you’re probably wondering, “What the heck is she doing?” I love Piglet. Yes, I’m dressed up as Piglet. He is my favorite character in Winnie the Pooh. I love him because he’s a faithful friend. That’s why I like him so much. And if Piglet wants to be a superhero, I have underneath the… I’m not undressing, I’m just gonna show you. “I love Downtown Arcadia.” Yay! Oh, right. Piglet loves Downtown Arcadia, because that’s who’s in studio right now, as you see. You guys look so great. We have Donna Choi and MJ Finstrom. Now, Donna is the Executive Director of Downtown Arcadia, and MJ is the… what do you call it? Marketing directoring guru director.

Donna Choi 2:22

I called her marketing guru before director, but people thought we should be a little bit more official. Okay. She is our guru.

Christine 2:29

I know she is. I mean…

Halloween Haunting Crowd and Candy Count

Christine 2:30

If you ever need any financial… financial… if you ever need any… if you need financials, yeah, just ask Donna. She’s rich. But if you need any social media marketing or email marketing, MJ is the one. I’m just so excited. I just want to get into this. I want to talk about… if you’re driving down Huntington Drive, you will see the big banner that says “Halloween Haunting” here in Downtown Arcadia. It’s up there, it’s hanging, the wind is blowing in it. I hope the sun doesn’t melt it. Yeah, right? Okay, there’s so many… I mean, we’ve talked about this for the last, what, year, two years or something like that. So let’s start off with how many people. How many people show up for this event?

Donna Choi 3:19

So many that it is scary.

Christine 3:21

It is scary. I mean, there has to be, what, over 15,000? 20,000? 25,000?

Donna Choi 3:27

It’s about 6,500-plus. And people are always like, “Well, how exactly do you know, besides your eyeballs?” Yeah. Um, you know, we give away over 10,000 pieces of candy.

Christine 3:39

I was just gonna ask you. It’s crazy. Yeah, the candy count. The candy counts it.

Donna Choi 3:43

Yeah, candy counts it. Yeah. I mean, how much candy? 10,000 pieces. And I’m telling you, if you’ve never lifted 10,000 pieces of candy, it is a workout. It’s amazing.

MJ Finstrom 3:57

That’s like a… it’s a trunk load. Yeah, that’s it. That’s a lot of candy.

Christine 4:03

Yeah. How many dentists show up, you know, looking for prospective patients?

MJ Finstrom 4:08

And we have a lot of people. We actually do have dentists that come, and yeah, they want to do the take-back, the candy.

Christine 4:13

Yeah. Now, we don’t have any dentists in Downtown Arcadia, do we? Oh, yes, we do. Oh, we do.

Donna Choi 4:17

Yeah, we have a dentist on First and on, um, Huntington. So I’m trying to… I’m trying to remember. I should know this. My business is in downtown.

MJ Finstrom 4:27

Oh, and Huntington.

Christine 4:30

That’s right. That’s right. Yep. Okay, we got it. We got it. We’re getting there.

MJ Finstrom 4:34

Three dentists.

Planning the Night and Gathering Candy

MJ Finstrom 4:35

Three dentists. So come and eat a lot of candy, and it will be taken care of afterwards.

Christine 4:41

Uh, and okay, so… oh God, there’s so much. Look at all these questions I had. I just want to know: what goes into putting on an event like this?

Donna Choi 4:52

I know, a lot. You know, it’s really funny. I was just talking to someone, and they were like, “Oh, people are already planning for the Olympics.” I’m like, I feel like we’re behind the eight ball on that already. We need to go. Yeah. So we have a finely tuned machine, being MJ and Donna. Um, but you know, we have to invite all of our businesses, which is really exciting, let them know exactly what it is, set up… The cool thing we have going on is candy donations. A lot of people want to be involved, but, you know, they don’t have a business, or they aren’t available, or they just want to give back. And so we are collecting candy donations at All India Cafe. We have a giant cauldron that’ll be there in the next week or so. We’ll let you know. Okay, keep going to social media and find out.

Christine 5:42

Yeah, it’s social media at Downtown Arcadia. Now, the donations… when people bring the donations to All… I think it’s Indian Cafe, isn’t it? All India. All India. All India, all of India. All of India, yeah. That is very true. I love that place. I’m addicted. I’m really addicted. I’m gonna be there this afternoon. But anyway, um, where is the candy gonna be given, you know, with the donations there? To Downtown Arcadia kids that are trick-or-treating? Yes, okay.

Donna Choi 6:12

And what we do is, of course, we pick up the candy after it’s donated, and then we distribute it to the children that are trick-or-treating. But if any of our district businesses call and go, “Oh my gosh, I’m out of candy,” I’m like, “Don’t close. We’ll be right there.” We have to throw the bags of candy at them.

Christine 6:28

All right, so that means that you need to go there right now. If you happen to be going shopping later on this weekend, today, tonight, you know, pick up some candy, go over to All India Cafe, and give it to them so that the kids can have candy throughout the night.

Donna Choi 6:41

And it really helps, because, you know, we are a nonprofit. Yes. And so we raise all the money that it takes to put on these events, and that’s a lot. So it really helps when the community steps up.

Christine 6:55

You know what I like about this event is the businesses that get involved here in Downtown Arcadia. I mean, they open up their businesses. Now the kids can go in to some of the businesses.

Donna Choi 7:04

Absolutely.

Businesses Open Their Doors for Trick-or-Treating

Donna Choi 7:05

And the businesses have candy there. Yes. McIntyre Real Estate does an incredible, incredible job. Last time they had a coffin full of candy. It wasn’t dead, right? The candy? No, the candy was fully alive. Okay, dollars were in there, yeah. Um, and, you know, White Springs Cafe. Yes. Mama, oh my goodness, she dresses up so cute. They always have a huge line down the street. It’s so much fun for everybody to interact with the kids, but also the parents find out about the businesses, so it’s really beneficial.

Christine 7:39

That is the best part of this, because sometimes, I mean, people can live in Arcadia for so many years and say, “I didn’t even know you were here.” Right, right.

Donna Choi 7:50

You know, we’re a car culture, right? Yeah. It gets people out of their cars, walking down the street, right?

MJ Finstrom 7:55

Yeah. And the other thing it does is we also include community groups, so they can have stations on the sidewalk. We kind of feel like Downtown Arcadia is sort of a platform to showcase our businesses, get to know our community groups, and it brings the community together. Um, it’s one of the only places in town I know of that brings everybody together, where people can learn about all the different groups. And then we have Holly Avenue, who does our trunk-or-treat in the parking lot up at the Citibank parking lot, and that is crazy. And then the City of Arcadia brings their games, and they have tons of people. So it’s a great opportunity, and you can meet with the police and learn about… the fire department’s there. Yes. So everybody’s there.

Christine 8:44

The trunk-or-treat… okay, I’m on First Avenue, so I’m going out on First Avenue to Huntington, and then I make my left, and then the trunk-or-treat is over there, right?

Donna Choi 8:57

Actually, something changed last year, and it’s even cooler now. It’s on First Avenue. Okay. Um, when you go past Huntington, there’s the Citibank parking lot, and we do it in the Citibank parking lot. It’s so big. Yeah, it’s very big. But, you know, you talk about Longo being your sponsor. Longo is there, and they have their human slot machine. It’s hilarious.

Christine 9:20

A human slot machine?

Donna Choi 9:21

You’ve got to see it. It’s so fun. That’s really cool. Yeah, they get a huge line in there, and it’s very fun.

Christine 9:27

A human slot… I know. So if I play the slot machine, I’m gonna win a human? Is that what it is? Well, I don’t know.

MJ Finstrom 9:35

It is Halloween. All things are possible. I hope it’s a good human. And then across the street, Neighborhood Music School has a little mini concert. So the whole town is kind of rocking.

Christine 9:47

I know. I was gonna ask you about the festivities that the businesses are gonna be doing. I know the music store always does something. So we…

Community Groups and Trunk-or-Treat Logistics

Christine 9:55

…have the trick-or-trunk, right? I mean, trunk-or-treat in Citibank. And Longo is gonna do a… and we have games.

MJ Finstrom 10:03

Games in Citibank, by the City.

Christine 10:05

By the City. And the City’s gonna be in there, right, with their games?

Donna Choi 10:09

And then, what other businesses are involved? Well, Matt Denny’s will have stuff happening on their patio. Everybody knows Matt Denny’s, but my gosh, it’s delicious, and they make it so cute. They really get into it. Um, Outback Steakhouse across the street, they have, you know, their sidewalk dining there, and they’re very fun.

Christine 10:30

Yeah, I was just talking to Jamie about that, and I said, “Are you looking forward to the Haunting?” She says, “It’s one of my favorite times, because the people come down there.”

MJ Finstrom 10:38

Yeah, yeah.

Christine 10:39

They get people coming down and getting their candy. And I said, “Well, are you serving wine? Giving any wine?” She says, “Christine, if you come, I’ll give you wine.”

MJ Finstrom 10:49

And the other thing that’s happening is Polka Dots is still not gone yet. They’re still around in town, and they are offering 50% off on their costumes. So if you need a costume for yourself or for your kid, um, go to Polka Dots, because they’re trying to liquidate their inventory. And so I’m sure they’ll make you a great deal on something fun.

Christine 11:14

Right. And speaking of Polka Dots, they were the ones… they gave me, one year… oh, it was during COVID… the Captain America costume.

Donna Choi

Where you turned blue?

Christine

Well, it’s a funny story, because I was Captain America, but I really wanted to be Captain Marvel. Yes. So it was a combination of that costume, and they helped me put it together, and it looked really great. But because of the heat, and the costume was blue… a friend of mine said, “Hey, afterwards, let’s go over…” I think at that time we went to Matt Denny’s, or we went somewhere to go eat. Well, I went to go take it off. I was blue. My whole skin was blue, because the ink melted onto my skin. So I ended up becoming a Smurf.

Donna Choi 12:03

Christine, I’ve thought about this a…

Food, Music, and Costume Deals

Donna Choi 12:05

…lot over the years. How you turned blue to give back to the community. But I think what happened is you were actually turning into Captain Marvel. I see it in you.

Christine 12:16

I feel it. I love it. I love Captain Marvel. That was my favorite, um, hero, Captain Marvel. And of course, I think my number one is Rey Skywalker from Star Wars. Yeah.

Donna Choi 12:31

Yeah. There’s a Lucas Museum now.

Christine 12:34

Oh! Anyway, now let’s talk about the spooky costumes and the kids dressing up. Now, the kids, when they come, they really make the trick-or-treating.

MJ Finstrom 12:43

Oh, they’re so great. So many. I wonder what the number one costume will be this year.

Christine 12:48

Oh, what the trending costume will be? That would be interesting. It could be… well, Supergirl came out. Supergirl. I loved that.

Donna Choi 12:55

I really thought it was super cute. Yeah. Sometimes people come, you know, and bring their pets. Yeah. Pets get to dress up as well. That’s very cute.

Christine 13:04

I love… now, you know, I may dress up as Supergirl. That was a good movie. I know. It was because I liked the girl, the 16-year-old. Me too. The girl that was in there was excellent. It was just really good. So, Supergirl. Maybe you’ll see a lot of Supergirls. Wonder Woman is always, no matter what…

Donna Choi 13:22

Always popular. Always popular. KPop Demon Hunters, people love them. That’s right, yeah, yeah.

Christine 13:28

So I wonder, what about guys, though? What do you think would be the number one costume for guys, other than the SWAT team? Because I always see little police officers. Yeah, lots of little police officers. Yeah, the kids really make it. So, okay, when you say 6,500 people show up, is that just the kids, or are you counting the adults?

Donna Choi 13:53

Well, we go through, like I said, 10,000 pieces of candy.

Christine 13:55

So I would think you’d go through more than that.

Donna Choi 13:57

Yeah. Well, fortunately, we have a bunch of candy stops, as we call them. So, you know, whether you’re going to the Olympus Escrow booth or you’re going to Forest…

Costume Trends and Family Fun Details

Donna Choi 14:10

…Lawn, they will have candy for you. Yeah.

Christine 14:14

All of them. And let’s see, I’m just trying to get in there. I know she did. I did. Okay, but yeah, you had to say that. So, all right, right here, right here. So again, thank you so much for being here and talking about this event, because there’s so much to talk about, and I always like to save something each year. But you can see all the signs. I think I’m even sharing. Did it call? Okay.

MJ Finstrom 14:40

Oh, Friday, October 30th, right here, 2026, from 4 to 6:30 p.m. That’s right.

Christine 14:47

So again, Friday, October 30th, right here. It says it right here. Oh, wait a minute. No, right there, right there. It’s right there. See? Right there. There you go. Because we have the Holiday Fair, and we’ll be talking about that coming up on another show. From 4 to 6:30. So that’s two and a half hours of gathering candy and playing games.

Donna Choi 15:07

It’s really fun.

Christine 15:08

It is just a lot of fun.

Donna Choi 15:09

So many different groups, as MJ was saying, you know, come out and participate. I mean, whether it’s the school or the Women’s Club or the Cub Scouts, the Girl Scouts… My favorite, it’s not the Girl Scouts, it’s a Boy Scout troop that’s all girls.

Christine 15:28

Yes, that’s right. I like that. Yeah.

Donna Choi 15:31

Um, so yeah, there’s a bunch of different things to see and do.

MJ Finstrom 15:34

So the best of Arcadia’s community will be there for sure.

Donna Choi 15:39

Oh, I think we forgot to say one thing that I think is really important. It’s free. Oh, completely free. Free, free is best. I’ll stand on my head.

Christine 15:50

My ears turn red if it’s not free. It’s free!

Date, Time, Free Entry, and Volunteers

Donna Choi 15:55

But, you know, you also asked about what it takes to do this. Of course, there’s meticulous planning for months that goes on behind the scenes, but really, we have so many great volunteers that come out, and we couldn’t do it without our volunteers. We have high-level volunteers that are, you know, CEOs and executives. Seriously, yeah. And then we have, like, a hundred high school volunteers who come out, and they are lovely. I mean, I have such great, um, hope for our future because of these kids. You see them come out, and they’re giving back to the community, and they want to.

Christine 16:32

They want to, and that makes it so cool. It just makes my heart warm. It does. Donna, I have to say, I love your earrings. Oh, thank you. Skeletons. I know, I really like those earrings. So, okay, well, thank you so much. Thank you for being here. Looking forward to seeing you. Thank you for having us.

Donna Choi 16:50

And Christine, thank you for doing such a great service to the community with Arcadia FYI. I listen all the time, and I learn something every time. You just do a great job. Oh, and one last thing: ArcadiaDT.com for more…

Website, Thanks, and Sign-Off

Donna Choi 17:05

…information. That’s right.

Christine 17:07

All right, you heard it. Friday, October 30th, starting at 4 o’clock. Bring your kids, and let’s grab a lot of candy, and then meet all the dentists in the show. Okay, I would like to thank our sponsors: Longo Toyota there in El Monte. Go by… like I always say, go by and say hi to Brooke, say hi to Michael. Star 7 Financial with Francine Chu. Santa Anita Park, opening day the day after Christmas. And the Le Méridien Hotel, right here in our community of Arcadia. Until next time on Arcadia FYI, be blessed, make it a great day, and be Piglet.