With many power lines still on the ground from the weekend storm and tree limbs dangling in the wind,  city and town officials in western Massachusetts and around the region put this emergency message out yesterday among others: postpone Trick or Treating. One Hampshire county town figured its way around that – Hadley. It was one of several towns in western Massachusetts hit hard by Saturday's storm. Nearly 100 percent out the town was without power in the first 24 hours after the snow stopped. And even by  Halloween,  only a small percentage of power had been restored. Emergency officials declared Hadley Elementary School a warming center and even without phone lines or Internet access, word got out.

Along with residents looking for a bowl of hot soup or a cup of coffee and a place to recharge their cell phone, around sunset Batman, several princesses, a witch or two,  and 5 year old Elliot Phifer, a kindergartner in Hadley,  showed up as Harry Potter. He and a few dozen Trick-or-Treaters raced around the cafeteria grabbing candy and prizes. The room was filled with families, most still without power, land lines, or heat. They found much of what they needed in the building as well as some cheer –as just hours before many kids were reportedly in tears at the thought of not Trick or Treating this year. 

Peter Venman, a parent of five  children, a cook at Amherst college,  and a member of the Hadley Fire Department, says even without power, he managed to make his family a lasagna for dinner — on a propane stove.  Along with some friends from Amherst, also without power, they  came here because, he says, what else where they going to do on Halloween?

"The kids couldn't Trick or Treat anywhere, and we're  like 'you're not going to Trick or Treat  next week. This is your one shot.' And they wanted candy so we came in here. Plus I knew all the guys here and it would be nice to see people and maybe get some more information about when the electricity is coming back on."

Over in the stainless steel kitchen, Diane Zak was making soup and setting out jack-o-lantern cookies Zak is the food service director for Hadley Public Schools.  Usually she's feeding kids; tonight its 200 dinners for anyone who shows up.  Zak says the warming center will be open for a 2nd day today, and possibly Wednesday.

"[Tuesday ]we're going to be doing a broccoli-tomato -cheddar soup that we just finished putting together,  and we're also going to be serving turkey and gravy on rice."

Town officials are still deciding if  school can resume Wednesday as many roads are still closed. Michael Spanknebel is a Captain with the Hadley Fire Department and town's Emergency Management Director.

"We've seen damage like this before but never in this magnitude. For the town, and all the towns around us to be 100 percent out of power, it's absolutely amazing .  The devastation from this early snow storm, it's amazing."

Spanknebel says just getting the word out about the warming center was a challenge.

"The communications part has been the most difficult because power's down, Internet us down, and a lot of folks don't have phones. So Facebook? I don't use it very often, but I'll tell you getting in touch with the PTO, some other parent organizations, the Park and Recreation Department; the amount of information they put out, getting it to everyone, and then asking them to pass it on has just been huge. We're asking everybody else to check on their neighbors. if you know of a senior, check in. Make sure they're okay. Let's keep this community thing going here. and it should be the same everyday."

And Spanknebel  is asking for one more thing: patience. Especially with emergency and utility workers. He says he's s been told it could still be 5 to 7 days before power is restored to some of the town's outlying  areas. The same goes for nearby towns.