Maricopa Trick or Treat, the annual Halloween event hosted by Church of Celebration at Pacana Park, proved to be a family affair Wednesday, even when it came to costume choice.

The Scheele family came as Popeye’s family: Matt donned oversized, tattooed forearms, his wife Laura wore a black wig and Olive Oyl’s signature dress and Olivia, their 3-year-old, was a perfect Sweet Pea.

The Ayons came as a group of zombies who were all, apparently, gainfully employed when a zombie apocalypse hit.

Max Ayon was a zombie pilot, his wife Mara Ayon, a zombie stewardess, the younger Max was a hazmat worker who got infected despite his full-face mask and Patrick a zombie clown.

“Last year Max was a zombie and I liked the way it turned out so we all decided to do it,” Mara Ayon said. 

The Ayons were Maricopa residents until a year ago when they moved to Phoenix. 

Regular attendees of the event, they drove down from the Valley just to attend.

The Casillas family – Celina, Theresa, Mariano and Marcus – were the Mad Hatter, a ghoul, a rotting skeleton and a cheerleader.
For Bianca Ochoa, the event was a chance to be her favorite pop-culture and gaming icon, Sonic the Hedgehog.

Ochoa wore the full-body character costume she ordered from Beijing. Her costume was such a hit many attendees lined up to take their picture with her.

There was plenty of opportunity for Halloween enthusiasts to show off their costumes during the Halloween contest, which featured everything from Lego Man to such classics as witches, princesses and superheroes.

“I think it was wonderful,” Babeu said. “It’s great to see all the families and kids come out and have a good time.”

Julia Adams, who came as a “smarty pants” by pinning the candy Smarties to her jeans, along with her 7-year-old son, Sean, a fierce ninja, agreed. 

“It’s an awesome event,” she said.

(The church did not record the names of winners in the costume contest).