When I was a child I can remember looking forward to celebrating Halloween. What child wouldn’t? It meant free candy! In addition to the candy, there were three things that were certain to happen: a party at school, a party at church and trick or treating. Those were great times! Kids today just don’t know what they’re missing. I am not saying things were all good back then. There was the occasional incident. Every year there would be a report about someone putting razor blades in apples. And back then, people gave out a lot of apples.
Now days, kids aren’t allowed to share treats with their classmates due to the various allergies and diet restrictions. So there is no school party.
Some churches preach that Halloween is the devil’s day and have given up on celebrating October 31st. So there is no church party.
There are villages in the Chicagoland area that have banned trick or treating. Others have set time limits (4:00pm – 6:00pm); still other communities have changed the date to the Saturday before the 31st.
What is the trick or treat policy in your community?
Deborah Calvert is associate executive director.
Photo by Rochelle, just Rochelle. Used with permission.