Trick-or-treat, a cornerstone of suburban life, has provided joy and fun to children across the country.
However, COVID-19 threw a wrench into the mix and the City of Bexley has had to make some changes to how Halloween is going to work this year.
The first thing that the City of Bexley is doing, apart from saying that everyone has to wear COVID-19 compliant masks and stay six feet apart, is changing the way that foot traffic is going to flow throughout the neighborhood.
Ben Kessler, the Mayor of Bexley, said, “We are asking people who are out trick-or-treating to go one way–counterclockwise.”
This will work the same way that traffic flows throughout neighborhoods in Bexley. That is, people will walk up the street on the right and come back down the same street on the opposite side.
Additionally, there will be ample signage throughout Bexley. This is to make it clear to people trick-or-treating, specifically people who do not live in Bexley, how the process will work.
On top of this, there is a rule regarding how candy can be handed out. It will no longer take place on the doorstep of one’s house.
Instead, residents are being asked to leave candy out in a bowl or on a table in front of their lawn by the sidewalk. This way, trick-or-treaters can simply walk by and take some candy without potentially harmful contact with other people. Also, families are being asked to go together, as opposed to splitting up.
Volunteering is always something that is rather popular in regards to trick-or-treating in Bexley as well. However, that have been some changes.
Kessler said, “Make sure everyone is, in the traditional sense, safe.” This is in regards to the Halloween patrol, consisting of volunteers, making sure that none of the normal trick-or-treat shenanigans take place in Bexley.
If the volunteers do see something fishy, they are to notify the police department.
The volunteers will be provided with masks, one for themselves, as well as multiple others to hand out to people walking by.
Michael Price, the City of Bexley’s Recreation and Parks Director, said, “We are asking all volunteers to do a self-health assessment prior to participation.”
This is to make sure that none of the volunteers have COVID-19 symptoms, or have been recently exposed to the virus without noticing or thinking about it.
Some of the major contributors–in terms of the number of volunteers–are institutions, such as schools like St. Charles, Columbus School for Girls, various synagogues, and of course, Capital University.
Kevin Smith, the Bexley Recreation Supervisor, said, “We always need to make sure that there are ample volunteers.”
In order to do this, they reach out to institutions across Bexley for volunteers, whether it be high schools or places of religious significance, or universities.
However, people generally do not have a significant reason to worry about the safety of trick-or-treating this year.
Kessler said, “We are creating a relatively safe event because of the outdoor nature, and because any sort of interaction that people have is brief.”
