for trick-or-treaters
Darien’s China Exchange Program taught our community an important lesson: if you don’t like the day a holiday falls on, move it. Because of Saturday’s surprise October Blizzard, Police Chiefs around the state of Connecticut were forced to follow this example. Many local towns cancelled Halloween last night and rescheduled the evening’s festivities for later.
What sacrilege, you may scream. Who, in good conscience, could put the kibosh on one of America’s most cherished, youthful holidays? What about the children, the costumes, the candy?!
Before you chide these grey government officials for committing cultural blasphemy, consider what many trick-or-treaters would have faced if they had decided to brave the outdoors. Darien was lucky. Like most coastal towns, the storm didn’t hit our town with full force.
We only accumulated 1-2 inches of slushy snow, little in comparison to the 6+ inches that inland communities like Trumbull received. Slightly farther locations, like West Milford, NJ, received as much as 19 inches, blasting away seasonal records. While many were affected by downed trees and power outages, Darien recovered relatively quickly.
According to Connecticut Light and Power figures, as of 11:30 AM, October 31st, only 10% of the town’s customers were left “affected” by the storm. Inland towns did not fare so well. Enormous swaths of Northern Connecticut remain dark, cold and powerless. The numbers are shocking. At the same point in time, 77% of Wilton residents did not have power. In Ridgefield, 87%. Brookfield, 88%.Many towns, the nearest and most familiar being Monroe, were still amazingly 100% without power. Harwinton, Burlington, Litchfield, Sharon, Kent, New Fairfield, Salisbury, and Simsbury were among the unlucky members in this category.
Many large, regional transmission lines got knocked out, different from the local lines that mainly came down in our town, leaving large regions blacked out. As of October 31st, these towns were still dealing with un-cleared streets, downed power lines, and continued high winds.
Who wants to go Trick-or-Treating when they could get stuck in a snow drift, fried by a hidden wire, or squished by a falling tree branch? Amidst these perilous dangers, hard hit towns decided to effectively ban Halloween festivities. Whatever verb you use—postpone, cancel, delay—the verdict is the same: no Trick-or-Treating. Monroe has already rescheduled Halloween for this coming Saturday.
Wilton and Ridgefield made similar decisions. In an email, Trumbull superintendent Ralph M. Iassogna broke the news to parents like this:
“The Chief of Police and our Emergency Management Team are strongly advising residents not take children out this evening for Trick or Treats. Accordingly, the Town of Trumbull is determining a make up date for this annual event. Once the Town determines that all downed power line and tree limb issues are resolved, a new Halloween date will be scheduled for later in the week.”
Like any other school board solution, the decision to move Halloween is crafty, but comes across as a little lame. When October 31st rolls around, the kids want their candy!
Darien students and teachers came up with their own solutions for saving Halloween. Meredith Ott postulated, “I bet people will go to other towns to Trick or Treat. I know that’s what I would do.”
Math teacher and department coordinator Dr. Bellows, who lives in a strongly affected town, suggested bringing her kids to a local Mall to go Trick-or-Treating. She explained, “I’ve heard that people in Bridgeport do this all the time because it’s unsafe to Trick-or-Treat in some neighborhoods anyways.” Logically, why not join the fun?
We must assume that our friends in Northern Connecticut found their own resourceful ways to overcome the elements and celebrate Halloween. For sure, this will be a Halloween none of them will soon forget.
