West Side Stories
A Tosa resident for almost 20 years, Karen is a mom and freelance writer, addicted to playing tennis. When not on the tennis court, she spends the fall and winter in the stands at Green Bay Packer and Marquette basketball games.
Karen is the author of “Grab a Bite,” a dining out column and the former community columnist for the Wauwatosa NOW newspaper.
Uniform Trick-or-Treat a Sweet Waste of Time
Oh sure, the calendar says January, but some supposedly forward-thinking municipalities are already legislating October - Halloween, to be exact. According to this story, an uber-brilliant group representing
OK, I hate to beat a dead horse, but apparently, I barely made a flesh wound last time I wrote about this. And, pardon another “equine” pun, but I don’t usually get on my high horse about many things, and this topic, really bothers me.
I’m going to ask these questions one last time and then walk away: Why can’t we just have Halloween ON Halloween? Why do we even have a need for a separate daytime trick-or-treat? Perhaps I’m wrong, but no matter what day of the week Halloween lands on, there’s still daylight after school for young kids to do a little door-to-door damage, right?
According to this story, some of the municipalities were complaining because vanloads of kids were being dropped off in communities allowing kids to take advantage of varying trick-or-treat hours. Hello, people…this is what kids do. You’re offering free candy. If they’re industrious and figured out a way to get the most sugar for their effort, then more credit to them. If you’re trying to prevent kids from getting more candy, then you’ll have to get in line behind the moms and the dentists.
Here’s an idea: We CAN have uniform trick-or-treating that never requires a municipal meeting. It’s called Halloween. That’s it. That’s the list. Put trick-or-treat back on Halloween. If it scares you, keep your kids in the house. If you don’t like it, don’t give out candy. But stop inserting government where it doesn’t need to be.
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I think that we should keep trick-or-treating on a Saturday Evening. Weeknights are too rushed with homework and work. And Sundays interfere with the Packer game.
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SOB, When kids arrive without a costume or appear to be pushing the late teen years, I have them do a trick before I give them a treat. Some kids walk away, though most have a little fun with it and "earn" their treat.
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I understand the problem and I've seen it firsthand. I saw a van-load of kids from 4th & Center get dropped off near my corner last year. They started walking to my house. One one or two had costumes but the other 5 or 6 didn't. I told those 5 or 6 kids that I wasn't going to give them candy because they didn't dress up as anything. They stood there for a bit, but realized that I wasn't going to budge. Come on, how tough would it be to put a pillow over your head and go as a ghost or something? I have standards after all.
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You nailed it StubbornOldMan, the real issue is the van loads of kids outside the area. The sad part of that is they are kids that just want to enjoy the holiday. The other realitiy is if the neighborhood association are organizing events to build their sense of community, then party crashing is not correct as well. I wish that there was a way to help the others take back their neighborhoods.
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Am I the only one who sees the real motive of the parents pushing for this change? These parents want to stop the vanloads of kids from 4th & Center from invading 'our turf' for free candy.
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I don't think that the push to hold trick-or-treating on days other than Halloween is coming from municipalities. It's been my observation that it has come from parents who don't want it held on school nights for one reason or another. My impression comes, in part, from my involvement with efforts to choose dates for a 'Tosa neighborhood association. The most common reasons I've heard are that parents want their kids home and doing homework on weekday evenings or that they want to combine trick-or-treating with parties or sleepovers.
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West Sider you seemed to miss the boat. The other municipalities do there Trick or Treating during the day, but most of Tosa does theirs at night as part of some type of Neighborhood Associaiton Event. Wauwatosa is very unique and I like the fact that we have taken back the night. In my neighborhood families put their outdoor fireplaces up front, adults dress up, some of the homes provide adult beverages to the parents as they are walking the kids, their are crossing guards and a lot of great decorations. At the Neighborhood Association Council meetings I hear of a lot of cool events, parties, some close streets off and have a party... There are very few if any daytime Treaters. The issue with the vans of kids is they are not coming for extra candy they are coming here from outside the city because they live in a poor or dangerous area where it is not safe to trick or treat.
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Just to be clear, the ICC is not a government entity with legislative powers. This is not the government getting in your business. It is a council of heads of local governments in Milwaukee County who communicate with one another and learn from one another. What a novel concept. Some communities were having problems (not of a nature of children needing more sugar), but of people taking advantage of something free. Oh, that's right, it isn't free - the homeowners have to buy the candy. This council of mayors and city managers have discussed ways to end that problem. They discussed cooperating so that people who want their children to trick or treat can choose any community they want and beg for all the candy they can in a 3 to 4 hour period. It has been beaten to death, I agree. But I applaud the communities for the effort.
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I have never had a problem with Halloween candy. I put a big bowl on the porch with a sign that reads please take only 1. I leash the dog to the porch and then go to 4th base so I don't get bothered by the door bell ringing. When I get back the bowl is always full.
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Back to topTunedIn - Jan 29, 2010 1:15 PM - Report Abuse
As a kid effected by the Gerald Turner Massacre, we found that many people didn't answer the door during the game. Who knows if the T.V. was too loud, or they didn't want to be disturbed.
Anyway, back in the day there were lots of kids carloaded by helicoptering parents tagging along. Even more so in areas with spread out housing--just like the now complaining municipalities.
To me this "outrage" reeks of NIMBYs. Especially since the mayors were able to convene and come to a consensus so quickly--when does that ever happen.
TunedIn - Jan 29, 2010 1:04 PM - Report Abuse
As for those coming in from rougher neighborhoods:. They too should be able to enjoy the night without worrying about stray gun fire. To me it is comforting that they view our city as safe. In a perfect world, it would be nice if they could afford live here.
StubbornOldMan - Jan 19, 2010 12:34 PM - Report Abuse
I'm trying in my small way to stop the entitlement-mindset that so many kids & adults have nowadays. Yeah, I did give the 'crashers' something, but I give kids that I know a LOT more.
community spirit - Jan 17, 2010 3:38 PM - Report Abuse
StubbornOldMan - Jan 16, 2010 2:58 PM - Report Abuse
My local neighborhood does exactly the same thing that community spirit's neighborhood does. It's sort of a mild independence revolt by the residents telling City Hall that we're not going to be TOLD when OUR neighborhood can have Trick-or-Treat. We "took back the night" so to speak. It's a great and somewhat nostalgic feeling to walk through the neighborhood at night in the presence of all those little neighborhood ghosts, gremlins, vampires and clowns while they're collecting treats from the houses. It reminds me of Trick-or-Treats when I was a kid (except that I was never offered an MGD by a neighbor way back then). Life is good!
tosaoutsider - Jan 14, 2010 5:04 PM - Report Abuse
Daytime trick-or-treating was a response to the unfortunate fact that the streets are no longer safe at night. That may seem silly to someone living in Wauwatosa, but not to most city dwellers. I loaded my kids in the car and drove to the 'burbs for trick-or-treating when we lived in a city. One year, in another city, the only safe place to trick-or-teat was a shopping mall.
It's great that some of the 'Tosa neighborhood associations have decided to take back the night, but then they get to decide when they're going to hold their events. I think it also makes sense for cities to designate a time and a day. Even here, there are many parts of the city that don't have neighborhood sponsored trick-or-treating.
I avoid confusion by keeping a bowl of candy by the door toward the end of October and instructing my young adult/teen kids not to eat any of it until November.
community spirit - Jan 13, 2010 2:59 PM - Report Abuse
rugbymom - Jan 13, 2010 1:09 PM - Report Abuse
rottieguy - Jan 12, 2010 7:52 AM - Report Abuse