They tumbled out of the van and drifted across the parking lot of the Meadowbrook Apartments—a shark, a skeleton, several butterflies, a ghost, a dinosaur, a clown, a princess. Leading them in Wonder Woman costume was Kailyn Nadeau, co-director of the Norfolk Early Learning Center. This was the daycare’s annual trick-or-treat outing for three- and four-year-olds.

In the foyer of Meadowbrook, though it was only 10 a.m., the residents were ready with treats, and the children milled around, filling their bags, before scrambling off to the second floor for more candy, screeching a cheery “Happy Halloween!” as they went.

The troupe then proceeded to the National Iron Bank, and later in the morning was seen flitting through the hallways of Town Hall.

The candy, one of Nadeau’s aides explained, stayed in the trick-or-treat bags until the group returned to the daycare center, when it would be transferred to the children’s cubbies. The parents would deal with rationing it.

Photographs by Savage Frieze.