West Nipissing cancels Kids Safe Halloween

West Nipissing has cancelled their Kids Safe Halloween event, which means more trick or treaters will be hitting the streets this year for candy.

For over 15 years, the municipality has been hosting Kids Safe Halloween at the West Nipissing community centre. Lynn Duhaime helps to organize the annual event, and explained the decision to cancel was difficult, but necessary, as Covid-19 precautions trump municipally sanctioned Halloween fun.

The event draws over 1,000 kids, and that has peaked to 1,200, Duhaime noted—“if it’s a rainy day, we’ll have more kids.”

From 5:30 to 7:30, “a non-stop” rush of costumed children flooded through the centre. The front lobby is decorated for their arrival “so when the kids get here, they get scared right away.”

The addition of a fog machine upped the fear considerably, Duhaime assured, but this kid fear was never strong enough to deter children from the candy inside.

Entering the main room, tables abound, all hosted by local businesses and organizations in the community. Of course, those at the tables dressed in their spooky best as they handed out treats to the cascades of costumed youths.

“People have been calling me, hoping I could figure out a way to do it,” she said, but ultimately decided to cancel “for safety purposes.”

Although many are disappointed by the cancellation, a contingent of West Nipissing residents felt the event took away from the traditional trick or treating mode: hitting the streets, bag in hand, knocking on doors looking for scores.

Certainly, the Kids Safe event accomplished the goal of safety, and provided a weather-proof means of celebrating the creepiest night of the year.

But for some, this sanctioned event was too sanitized, and reduced the number of kids on the streets.

Mayor Joanne Savage, attuned to this Halloween rift, mentioned some residents “felt the Kids Safe Halloween was detrimental to the traditional way of having Halloween where you have kids show up at the door to trick or treat.”

She noted how last year, certain groups posted an online map “outlining which houses would be providing candy for the trick or treaters.”

Without doubt, many Halloween fanatics partook in both the Kids Safe event and trick or treating in the old-style way, but the divide among the two camps remains.

“I’ve read that possibly, that’s going to happen again this year,” Mayor Savage said, adding that she understands how trick or treating door to door “brought a lot of joy and pleasure to many of our residents” and knows there will always be room for both modes of celebration.

But with the Kids Safe cancellation, those Halloween options just became a little thinner.

As for future events, Mayor Savage explains that “staff are going to be providing further recommendations regarding upcoming annual events.”

David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.