Rescheduling Halloween? Kingsville calls for community input

A trick or a treat? The Town of Kingsville wants residents to weigh in on rescheduling Halloween.

On its community engagement site, town hall has asked residents to voice their opinion on officially recognizing the holiday on the last Saturday of October, as opposed to whichever day of the week happens to be Oct. 31.

This year, that’s a Thursday – meaning many Kingsville kids will likely still be shaking the sleep off when the school bell rings on Nov. 1.

"We've had residents raise concerns about where Halloween falls and how it would be much more convenient if kids were trick-or-treating on Saturday instead of when they have school in the morning," said Kingsville Mayor Dennis Rogers.

In its call for comment, Kingsville administration identified a number of pros and cons to shifting celebrations:

PROS:

• Kids and parents could better enjoy the day without rushing home from school and work to put on costumes.

• Parents wouldn't have to worry about kids staying up past bedtime.

• Minimizes the impact on schools, as kids would be more focused instead of distracted by evening excitement.

CONS:

• Ignores the tradition of celebrating on Oct. 31.

• Kids may be out on the street during one of the more dangerous nights of the week.

• Kids might stay out later and cause trouble.

"We understand other communities have had this debate, and we'd like to see where the Kingsville community lands on this issue,” Rogers said.

He posted the call to social media Tuesday, with commenters swift to voice their opinions.

“I thought this was a joke at first,” wrote one Jennifer Mee.

“Leave Halloween [on] the 31st along with the rest of the holidays as is and start focusing on more important issues going on in the town of Kingsville instead of changing the date of Halloween!”

A Facebook user posting under the name Yolanda Sullivan questioned why the conversation was happening in the first place.

“Clearly our leadership's focus on trivial, non-town-related, important issues needs to change,” Sullivan said.

“What does this have to do with important issues of the town?! What is going on with council of late?”

One commenter pointed out that children from other communities could take advantage to double their candy haul – coming to Kingsville to trick-or-treat on the Saturday and then doing so at home on the 31.

Not all oppose the idea, though.

“We lived in a Northern remote community for a year and they did Halloween on the Saturdays,” wrote Jessika Lane, who said she liked the idea.

“Teachers will thank you!” added another commenter under the name Yo Clyde.

On Wednesday, Rogers clarified the call for input was simply “a fun idea put out for feedback.”

“There has not been a discussion to change the date unless our community overwhelmingly wanted it,” he said

The mayor is asking residents to take their feedback to the official site, where they can vote in a poll or participate in a forum discussion.