October brings the smell of cool crisp air, the sound of crunching leaves under our feet and the sight of porch pumpkins and scary decorations covering Lakewood homes. As the month move towards its end, the excitement of costume selections and candy route planning grows. Trick-or-treating has been a longstanding tradition Americans will never miss. With the fun there is always a few questions that are commonly brought up, What day and time is trick or treat? Is that a good time? What day do Lakewood citizens prefer?
In Lakewood, Halloween is historically celebrated on Halloween Day October 31st, but in a few other cities Halloween is celebrated on the nearest weekend. This year Halloween lands on a Thursday and will be held between 6pm-8pm.
“I love that about Lakewood, that trick-or-treating has always been on Halloween” said Rebecca Austin a parent in Lakewood. “It’s on Halloween. It’s just got a spooky air about it, no matter what.” As for the time, “I would prefer it from 7pm-9pm so that more trick or treating happening in the dark.”
“I personally like the tradition of celebrating on this date. The continuous calendar rotation and changing the date from weekdays to weekends allows everyone to celebrate.” Cindy Strebig Lakewood City Council member said. “The time of 6-8 PM allows more adults to participate in candy distribution after a traditional work date of 9-5P, while respecting their need to prepare for the next day.”
Lakewood High senior Dawson Rossen disagrees, “I don’t really like it, especially when it falls onto a school night. I feel like the next day at school I am not really recharged or ready to learn.” As for the timing of trick or treat, he agrees with Ms. Austin, “I think it should be moved an hour later, just so it is dark out and a little bit spookier.”
One possible reason for the selection of the date and time of Trick or Treating could have been for safety reasons. “I don’t have any historic data on leaving Trick or Treat in Lakewood on October 31st” says Councilwoman Strebig. “There could be safety issues that were considered with children walking in the dark and more vehicle activity on a Saturday night in Lakewood with our vibrant restaurants and bars.”
Ms. Austin also shared the same concerns, “On a weekday people don’t tend to be our late at night. On the weekends there’s usually more foot traffic and people drinking which could be unsafe.”
Rossen doesn’t believe that it makes a difference, “Safety issues would be the same whether we had it on the weekend or on Halloween.”
So why is this great candy grab holiday known as Halloween so important to us? This is best summarized by Councilwoman Strebig, “What once was an American holiday strictly for children has naturally become an adult celebration too, as children mature into adults and still want to enjoy the festivities. The adults get to celebrate as well as the children.”
