(Oct. 12, 2017) When two men allegedly trespassed onto Crofton Middle School property in May and hung a noose on one of the light fixtures outside the school, the community responded days later by taking chalk and drawing positive messages on the sidewalks. Four days after the incident, about 300 people turned out for “Chalk the Walk,” which covered the sidewalks outside the school with chalk art and affirmations of hope. Austin Piccarreta, the new youth programs coordinator at Worcester Youth and Family Counseling Services, wants to take that positive approach and apply it in Berlin. “We’re going to go around town and write on the sidewalk … positive affirmations and positive things,” she said during a Berlin Parks Commission meeting last week. “I’m hoping to do it on [Oct.] 26 and I’m praying it doesn’t rain.” Piccarreta received permission from the town and plans to have children from the SAGES program pitch in during the event. If all goes well, the throngs of trick-or-treaters expected in downtown Berlin will be surrounded with bright images and sunny thoughts as they parade through town on Oct. 31. “There’s a lot of kids that feel bad now and feel bad about themselves. I read a lot of stories about [people saying] if one person would’ve smiled at me today, or if one person would’ve said one nice thing … they wouldn’t have taken such a drastic measure,” Piccarreta said. “I feel like that one little thing might … brighten someone’s say.” She said she read about the incident in Crofton and was inspired to bring it to Berlin. “The middle school came together and was like, ‘We’re not going to let this hate in,’” she said. “They drew all around the middle school, all these positive things, and made it a community of positivity. “They turned this horrible thing into a positive thing for the community,” Piccarreta added. “I thought we could kind of tweak it a little bit and … make people [in Berlin] smile.” Commission member Patricia Dufendach applauded the idea. “I rely on that – I rely on people looking back at me when I smile,” she said. “Let them know it really does matter to the community as a whole. We’re all behind them!” Piccarreta said the plan is to focus on Main Street and some of the side streets downtown. Dufendach added, for maximum impact during Halloween, “if you want to reach [the] masses, Washington Street is the one to hit.”