"Zach is certainly up for this," Busch said. "A few years ago, the idea of standing in the doorstep and taking candy seemed odd to him. He always wanted to go in the house."
Busch, who admits to taking snickers from his son's candy bag, said Zach often gets more candy than he can eat.
The local trawl may be too light for the older crowd, however. The children of Mather House Masters Leigh Hafrey '73 and Sandra Naddaff '75 are being driven to Dedham for trick-or-treating.
Nathaniel and Ben Naddaff-Hafrey, 12 and 7 years old respectively, are headed for their grandparents' neighborhood, Hafrey said.
"I think Nathaniel is going as a soccer player and is going to wear his school soccer uniform," Hafrey said. "Ben is going as a commando. The commando thing is gradually coming together."
Leverett tutors Louis Miller and Catherine Fasbender said this will be the first year of trick-or-treating for children David, 3 and Pascale, 16 months. Pascale will be a superhero and David a skunk.
"The only piece of costume we have is a skunk tail," said Catherine Fasbender, applying the finishing touches of makeup to David's face in a trial run for Saturday's big event.
Kareem and Khalila Gibbs, the children of Kirkland House tutors Adam Biggs and Rakiya Muhammed, are also headed out in search of candy Saturday.
"We're not quite sure where," Biggs said, "but we are going to go out trick-or-treating."
Kareem, 3, will dress as a ninja and despite the stalled NBA season, Khalila, 15 months, will still go as a cheerleader for the Chicago Bulls.
"They're pretty excited," Biggs said. "We took a couple of days to look around for costumes. We've also had a little more candy around the house."
Conor Killen, two-year-old son of Dirk Killen '82, Allston Burr Senior Tutor in Pforzheimer House, and tutor Kristin Daly '89, will dress as Batman this year, combining holiday fashion and function.
"His dad likes Batman and [Conor] has cute Batman pajamas," Daly said.
Although Conor does not yet know about the Halloween plans, Daly said they will include the open haunted house in Jordan Hall on their Saturday itinerary.
"We'll visit just a few houses of people we know in the neighborhood," she said.