BERLIN — The Saturday before Halloween is shaping up to be especially sweet this season, as area towns, churches and organizations roll out a safe and family-friendly welcome mat for early trick-or-treaters by the carload.

At Berlin, the town will host its second Trunk-or-Treat celebration at the Berlin Farmers Market on Saturday, Oct. 28, giving costumed kids (and grown-ups, too) a crack at oodles of Halloween candy, plus a bounce house and more fun activities from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. on the market grounds. In addition to pre-prepared sacks of candy (courtesy of the town), the Berlin Volunteer Fire Department will have dinners for sale on-site, with proceeds going to fund department needs.

Berlin’s first Trunk-or-Treat last year proved so popular that organizers had to scramble to come up with more candy than the 375 bags they’d originally planned for.

“It was our first time, and we had a wonderful turnout,” said town clerk Keirstyn Montgomery. “We ended up having to open up extra bags of candy and just hand it out on the spot to keep up with all the people who showed up! I’ll be there this year dressed as Princess Peach, giving out bags of candy, and our fire department will of course be giving out candy too, along with their fundraising dinner. It should be a great Halloween event for families.”

The Berlin town council finalized plans for the Trunk-or-Treat at its regular meeting this week. In other business, the council:

• Discussed development progress on the town’s planned new storm shelter, after meeting with bid awardee Aqua Marine Enterprises, Inc. at a public session just before the council meeting. The shelter is on track to see ground preparation work completed before the end of this year, with a tentative overall completion window that should have the new shelter operational in time for next spring’s sever weather season.
• Contributed $325 for cooking materials in preparation for an upcoming pancake breakfast to be held by the Berlin Volunteer Fire Department. The breakfast will take place Dec. 9 from 7 a.m. until 10 a.m. at the Berlin Community Center, with proceeds funding Christmas toys for local children.
• Set a speed limit of 25 mph along County Road 1600, a road that previously had no posted speed limit.
• Agreed to solicit bids for forthcoming road work along County Roads1612 and 1614.
• Recognized Montgomery for her Oct. 6 completion of a municipal revenue officer’s training and licensing program through the University of Alabama, and approved a one-time pay adjustment of $2,500 — which also will serve as a Christmas pay supplement — in acknowledgement of the new designation.