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Village Spillage

Village Spillage is a blog about Whitefish Bay and the surrounding areas. It focuses on Village Government, elections, Silver Spring, and many other topics that aren't covered in the media.

The Great Trick Or Treating Debate of 2007

By Kevin Buckley
Tuesday, Sep 4 2007, 09:40 PM
Why write about Halloween in August? Because in just a few weeks, the Whitefish Bay Village Board will select the time for Trick-or-Treating 2007.

We need to stop the madness of having Trick-or-Treating on Sunday.

Remember when you were a kid? You knew when Trick-or-Treating started. It was October 31st. Halloween. When? When it got dark. That's when it was time. No time tables, no schedules. No city council vote, no trustees deciding. October 31st when it got dark.

Funny, as I researched this story, I tried internet searches for when other communities "scheduled" Trick-or-Treating. I only found a few.

Pittsburgh has it on October 31st. So does Cleveland. And the entire state of New Hampshire. And all of Chicago-land, for crying out loud.



But I didn't find many communities' scheduled times. You know why? BECAUSE EVERYONE ELSE KNOWS THAT TRICK OR TREATING IS ON OCTOBER 31st. No need to schedule it.

Why can't Whitefish Bay be like Waukesha? Or Brookfield, Muskego, or Menomonee Falls? They all "schedule" Trick or Treating on its proper night: Halloween.

Is Whitefish Bay somehow not as "safe" as Waukesha or Brookfield or Cleveland or Chicago? Is safety really even an issue? How many parents aren't actually accompanying their kids as they 'Trick the Bay? Has there ever even been a Trick-or-Treating accident in WFB?

Let's fix this in 2007. Contact your Village Trustee now, before it gets scheduled.

One last thing. If this "Bring Back Halloween" doesn't work, we still need to move the time. Normally, WFB schedules it from 4-6pm. At 5pm, dusk begins, so at least it's a little dark. This is not the case in 2007, as Daylight Savings Time moved and it now ends on November 4th. This means, it won't get dark until 6pm. 5-7pm would be more appropriate.

UPDATE: This subject will be taken up at TOMORROW'S Village Board meeting, Tuesday September 4th at 7pm.


(P.S. How do you contact the Village Trustees? I asked the Village Manager this question. Apparently, besides hunting them down at their homes, the only way to get word to them is via the Village Manager himself, who will forward your commentary onward. His email address is: manager@wfbvillage.org)

wfbdogloverOur school does. They send home a weekly letter and in it, we get advise on parenting, routine, and the letter before the week of testing the note states extra sleep on the week of testing, healthy snack ideas, please make sure to not schedule doctor appointments - or if you do, the best time to schedule them.

YUP, we do and I'm sure Elmbrook does as well.
Posted at: 2007-09-21 22:14:22

KevinThanks for finding that.

I wonder .. does Elmbrook cancel all extra curricular activities and practices during testing week? Do they make sure each kid is tucked in bed early during that week? Send home notes to make sure no parent lets their kid watch a movie or play a game past 8pm?

Again .. it's amazing how the rest of the country somehow manages to deal with these issues.
Posted at: 2007-09-09 08:09:59

wfbdogloverLooks like Whitefish Bay isn't the only one with a concern on trick or treating

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=657411

Posted at: 2007-09-09 07:21:04

JoeBayAparently Whitefish bay isnt as safe as we think. Check out this story: http://www.whitefishbaynow.com/watch/?watch=32&date=8/30/2007&id=28593

Posted at: 2007-09-04 06:46:53

MTE"wfbdoglover
Most kids go to bed at 7:30 on a school night - for the younger grades and 8:30 for the older primary grades."

That's a huge generalization and one, I'd surmise is pretty inaccurate. Don't try to characterize all kids in the district by what you do or did with yours.

In the neighborhood where I live, there are a significant number of school age kids, and exactly zero of them are in bed by 830 on school nights, and they weren't in by 730 when they were in the younger grades either.
Posted at: 2007-08-31 06:28:25

ThomOh my gosh. You'd hold 'Trick or Treating' on a school night? And our little darlings would be tired and sugar enriched the next morning? The ripple effect would probably reduce SAT scores and our kids couldn't get into the colleges of their choice. Oh wow!

Of course, the kids would have an evening they would always cherish, with the added excitement that running through the neighborhoods in costume during the night brings!
Posted at: 2007-08-28 08:05:05

KevinHalloween is a special occasion, when the regular schedule changes for a day.



Somehow, we all managed to eat, trick or treat, and get to bed when we were kids. .. How do kids in Chicago and Cleveland manage to trick or treat and go to school the next day? Do we need a blue ribbon panel to go down there and find out how they survive this traditional holiday?


I appreciate the opinion, since it's exactly that type of opinion that has moved a traditional holiday to one of convenience. Should we move the 4th of July to a Saturday, since that would be more convenient? How about Christmas? Sure would be nice to have that on a weekend every year.


As you can see, this isn't just about an annual act of dressing up and getting candy. It's about the dilution of tradition for convenience sake. -- Especially in the face of the fact that we're clearly in the minority in the USA, where everyone else seems to have kept tradition.
Posted at: 2007-08-28 07:54:11


wfbdogloverMost kids go to bed at 7:30 on a school night - for the younger grades and 8:30 for the older primary grades. Then there is the candy issue on a school night Diane brought up.

I do know a lot of working parents and most get home between 6:00 and 6:30 p.m. There is homework, dinner and family time that you must fit in before bed.

Sorry, I don't think this is the best idea. (It is OK for us to have a difference of opinion.)
Posted at: 2007-08-28 07:43:03

KevinHeck, even I realize 5-7 on Sunday isn't best. That's prime dinner time.

It should be October 31st, when it gets dark. That means it starts roughly after 6pm. Most people are home from work by then.

For the dinner crowd, have dinner a bit early, 5:30, maybe 6, then go out trick or treating at 6:30. Perfection.


Posted at: 2007-08-28 05:57:02

wfbdogloverQuote: DKraemer states "For goodness sakes, give parents time to give their kids dinner before they go out, who eats dinner at 3:00?

Reply:
We normally eat dinner between 7-8 - sometimes 8:30 p.m. I dont' understand why you couldn't eat when you got home at 6 or 6:30 p.m. - throw something in the crock pot or go over to School House Park and have dinner at the Great Pumpkin display!

Quote "And then of course their done by 6:00 so you have at least 2 hours to try and keep them from devouring all that candy before trying to put them to bed for school on Monday."

Reply: How would this be any different if Trick or Treat was moved to the night of Halloween and was during the weekday??






Posted at: 2007-08-27 20:47:13

wfbdogloverHi Kevin,

I would agree with you on the 5-7 time frame, especially with the daylight savings time.

Since a lot of people don't get home from work until 6:00/6:30 or later, I would actually think keeping it to a Sunday would be the better option, otherwise there will not be any candy for the Trick or Treaters to get!

Lastly, there are a lot of working parents that use after school care. Most places are open until 6:00 p.m. A lot of kids wouldn't be able to trick or treat, if we allowed kids to go during the week.

Just my thoughts, sorry to disagree.
Posted at: 2007-08-27 20:20:03

Diane KraemerThank you. If the Bay really cared about kids and families they'd never schedule trick-or treating from 4 to 6 on Sundays. For goodness sakes, give parents time to give their kids dinner before they go out, who eats dinner at 3:00? And then of course their done by 6:00 so you have at least 2 hours to try and keep them from devouring all that candy before trying to put them to bed for school on Monday. I guess no one on the board has kids.
Posted at: 2007-08-27 10:11:42

Skeffert McDoogledorpfRight on! I've never heard a good explanation for why we "schedule" trick-or-treating. It really takes the fun out of it. For a town that's in most ways so family-friendly, it's odd that we lame up this tradition by setting it to weird time constraints that aren't on the day proper.
Posted at: 2007-08-27 09:51:16

It is hard to believe Chicago does it on Oct 31, but the Milwaukee area can't.
Posted at: 2007-08-26 20:30:59

 

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About Kevin Buckley

Kevin Buckley of Whitefish Bay is a native Minnesotan who moved to Wisconsin 20 years ago to attend Marquette University. He is a recovering accountant, now working in the technology field as a webmaster for a company in New Berlin.

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