FOR A COMPLETE LIST of local trick-or-treat times see thedominionpost.com.
Things did go bump in the night on Halloween.
But that had a lot more to do with the weather than frightening and imagined supernatural events,.
Or children in costumes to look like “goulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties.”
A rainy, windy forecast forced counties and municipalities throughout the state to delay trick-or-treat times this week,
Many communities suspended trick or treat until Saturday evening as a result of the worst of the recent storm occurring Thursday evening.
In the upper elevations of the state, including Preston County, wind gusts caused more than their share of things crashing in the night.
That came with soaking rain and cooler temperatures — the kind of weather that was sort of frightening all its own.
We applaud county and municipal leaders across our region for getting out in front of this storm and putting public safety before those bowls and bags of candy.
On average, twice as many children are hit and killed by cars between the hours of 4-10 p.m. on Halloween compared to the same timeframe on any other day of the year, according to Safe Kids Worldwide.
Clearly, adding some terrible weather to that timeframe only aggravates an already annual risky time of the year.
There are a number of tips for parents to ensure their child’s safety but ensuring their visibility to vehicles is critical.
Making sure your child stays on sidewalks and off streets except to cross is imperative. Ditto with obeying all traffic signals (that goes for driver’s, too).
We would add, using reflective tape on dark costumes and taking flashlights along while trick-or-treating, too.
Though we trust public officials to err on the side of caution on matters of public safety, when it comes to children it’s even more important to.
It’s hard to recall the way we were in our all-out pursuit of a bag of candy while admiring each others’ costumes on Halloween. That’s not to say we would climb up some rickety steps to that one creepy house on the block alone.
But nothing could stop us from enjoying this one special night when we were boys and girls.
Obviously, moving trick-or-treating back a full 48 hours is going to change a lot of families’ plans this weekend.
Not to mention cause some measure of discontent from your “goulies and ghosties.”
But public safety should always come before anyone’s fun or convenience.
Not to mention deliver us from real things to fear.
