Amid all the uncertainty we’re facing right now, another big question is emerging in people’s minds as October approaches: Can we go trick-or-treating?
That’s a good question and one that towns and cities are rapidly trying to answer.
“We usually get around 50 to 80 people for our webinars. For this one we’ve already had a couple hundred people say they want to come,” said Natch Greyes, an attorney with the New Hampshire Municipal Association. He will be leading a webinar on Sept. 30 titled, “What Will Halloween Look Like This Year?”
The Centers for Disease Control said Tuesday that Halloween should look different this year, as should other autumn celebrations where people traditionally congregate or go house to house.
“Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Halloween, Dia de Los Muertos, Navratri, Diwali and Thanksgiving will likely need to be different this fall to prevent the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19. … Consider fun alternatives that pose lower risk of spreading the virus,” the CDC said in guidance published on the web.
Notably, it urged people to avoid the tradition of giving out candy to whoever shows up at the front door. Among the suggested alternatives: “Doing a Halloween scavenger hunt where children are given lists of Halloween-themed things to look for while they walk outdoors from house to house admiring Halloween decorations at a distance.”
But don’t get too scary, it cautions. “If screaming will likely occur, greater distancing is advised. The greater the distance, the lower the risk of spreading a respiratory virus.”
The CDC’s guidance hasn’t stopped stores from laying out piles and piles of Halloween candy for sale six weeks before the holiday.
A query to some Concord-area towns found that many are waiting for guidance from officials with the state Department of Health and Human Services, who will be part of the Sept. 30 webinar.
“No decision on Halloween has been made at this point. The Municipal Association is running a workshop on this next week so we will probably make a decision after that,” said Neil Cass, town administrator for Hopkinton, echoing statements from officials in Loudon and Bow.
The question is complicated because trick-or-treating often has no central authority.
“Most times it’s an informal arrangement in communities. Everybody knows the date of Halloween, the times; the municipal authorities know certain streets want to be closed off, if they need extra police,” said Greyes.
Concord is the perfect example. Even though it has one of the most unusual schedules around, with Penacook going door-to-door on Oct. 30 in what is known as Gate Night and the rest of the city doing it on Halloween, nobody sets that schedule. It just happens.
“The City Council nor the City Administration sets dates and times for trick or treating in Concord and Penacook. It appears that this has been carried on by tradition,” Police Chief Bradley Osgood wrote in response to a Monitor query.
This was confirmed at a city council meeting Sept. 14 when Councilor Byron Champlin asked City Manager Tom Aspell about any pandemic-related changes.
“The decision whether or not to trick-or-treat, whether or not to have candy available, is entirely up to individual discretion in the city?” he asked, after Aspell said that City Hall’s hands-off policy dated back “many, many years.”
“That is correct,” Aspell answered.
The closest thing to an official celebration in Concord happens on Auburn Street. The street connecting Centre Street to Penacook Street has become famous for its king-sized candy bars and other treats on Halloween, which attract so many children that the neighborhood asks police to keep cars off the street during trick-or-treating.
Apparently COVID-19 is defeating that tradition, however; Chief Osgood said this year’s request to close the street has been withdrawn.
The city’s Halloween Howl, events held downtown, is being redesigned into a month-long celebration, with details to come soon.
The town of Salem is taking a different tack: It has scheduled a drive-through haunted house on Oct. 27, where people can get pizza and bags of candy and be directed to other participating locations around town that will spread things out.
(David Brooks can be reached at 369-3313 or dbrooks@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @GraniteGeek.)
