You know if you have to use the words “PVC pipe” in terms of describing a delivery system of Halloween candy to a trick-or-treater, you have removed all the fun from what we know as Halloween.
A story in the Pine Bluff Commercial on Thursday laid out what was going to be acceptable and what was going to be unacceptable Halloween activities, ranking them based on level of risk.
At the low risk end, there was “Doing a scavenger hunt where children are given a list of Halloween-themed items to look for as they walk outdoors from house to house admiring Halloween decorations at a distance.”
Well, maybe it’s just the general pall that the covid-19 pandemic has placed over everything, but there don’t appear to be many houses sporting Halloween decorations. And if there were, we can’t imagine that admiring them would be an activity a parent could talk a youngster into doing. The first question would be, “When do we get the candy?”
Another was to have a virtual Halloween contest.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Another was to have a scavenger hunt with one’s family inside one’s own house.
Hmm. That’s just not doing it for us.
The moderate-risk activities were a little better. Having a small group of no more than 10 outside for an open-air costume party. That could actually be fun.
But then we were back to the tube-delivery system.
“Having a trunk-or-treat event where masks are worn and social distancing can be assured (i.e., in a large parking lot where treats can be funneled through a PVC pipe or placed in treat bags for participants to pick up instead of handed out directly.)”
Don’t misinterpret this as disagreeing with or dismissing these state Health Department guidelines. Bless their hearts; they tried. It’s just hard to take something with hundreds of years of tradition and remake it overnight. Absolutely, we should all stay safe, despite the lack of fun involved. As weary as we all are of dealing with a viral pandemic, now is not the time to waver from the safest course we can follow. Every day, it seems, huge numbers of Arkansans are testing positive for covid-19, and more and more are having to be hospitalized. No one wants to be in either of those numbers.
As White Hall Mayor Noel Foster said: “It’s kind of like going to school. We as a community want the kids to have normal activities, and Halloween is one, but we must respect that this virus is very contagious and must follow the guidelines.”
It’s just the idea that Halloween, which is one of the most innocent, fun-centric holidays on the calendar, has been so thoroughly sidelined by the coronavirus.
And that thought led us to consider Thanksgiving and Christmas, and we could hear our own sigh to think of all of the traditional events that won’t happen this year.
Even if a scientifically approved vaccine is available soon, it’s not as if it can made immediately available. Experts are saying it will be months before that happens.
So that cousin’s house you go to every year to celebrate Thanksgiving, the one that grandma and grandpa always attend. Not happening — or shouldn’t. Ditto Christmas dinners and parties and get-togethers. And if families can’t get together, what’s the point in roasting a big turkey or ham? Does that mean no dressing? We shudder.
Sorry to be such a downer. It just hit us that the end of the year will be as grump-inspiring as the middle half was.
If this were a jack-o-lantern, it would have a big sad face.