The trick or treat dilemma

Tak

A long time ago…
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I noticed in the shout box and figured it was better in a thread.

What does your town/city/etc do for Halloween?
Especially for those in multi-family housing? Here, the management offices give out papers that are usually double sided. You put the paper on your door, near the door, or in a window next to the door. One side of the paper has ‘trick or treater’s welcome!’. The opposite side has ‘Please do not disturb’. We lived in apartments until E was almost 4. It was super helpful having those papers. In a single family home, you can just turn off the porch light.

In addition to the papers advertising participation, our senior facilities, and churches have gotten into Halloween. Most of the churches have ’truck-or-treat’. The schools are starting to as well. They have it in a parking lot. Each car participating opens their trunk (hatchback or truck bed) and they decorate it. They have candy and other treats available. The senior facilities generally only allow younger kids, but they set up a row of tables on the common area and decorate. It’s so often raining on Halloween here and the mall is terrible. So, people stepped up to make Halloween so much fun!
 
We've never had trick or treaters at our house, but I think mainly further down the road everyone uses the porch light being on and if the house is somewhat decorated or the door open? We dont get many trick or treaters these days. When I was growing up there was a ton but my area has slowed down with it after 30 years. I remember in 2019 everyone just drove their kids to decorated houses and stood in line. I didnt go out to look at decorations since covid tho.. so I couldnt say.

We have churches that do similar halloween festivities but I havent been to many. When we had our halloween horror movie street festival in 2019 all the shops had candy so kids went around and trick or treated through town to businesses. Our downtown is a small historic area, been around since the 1800s so its a lot of nice walking, lots of small businesses and a tiny downtown museum which hosted spooky tours at the same time. It was really fun! Not sure if theyve done it since. I hope they do it again some day, kids seemed to have a lot of fun and my mom and I enjoyed the spooky ghost walk! ;D
 
We've never had trick or treaters at our house, but I think mainly further down the road everyone uses the porch light being on and if the house is somewhat decorated or the door open? We dont get many trick or treaters these days. When I was growing up there was a ton but my area has slowed down with it after 30 years. I remember in 2019 everyone just drove their kids to decorated houses and stood in line. I didnt go out to look at decorations since covid tho.. so I couldnt say.

We have churches that do similar halloween festivities but I havent been to many. When we had our halloween horror movie street festival in 2019 all the shops had candy so kids went around and trick or treated through town to businesses. Our downtown is a small historic area, been around since the 1800s so its a lot of nice walking, lots of small businesses and a tiny downtown museum which hosted spooky tours at the same time. It was really fun! Not sure if theyve done it since. I hope they do it again some day, kids seemed to have a lot of fun and my mom and I enjoyed the spooky ghost walk! ;D
We have haunted houses again… too scary for me! There’s a tour of haunted sites in Portland. We have several neighborhoods that are families with older children and they go all out. There are more Halloween decorations than Christmas. Those neighborhoods give alcoholic beverages to adults and full size bars to kids. My parents live in the best area, well lit streets, single family homes with elementary or older kids, lots of fun decorations. In 2020, they all set up candy chutes made of pvc pipes or wrapping paper tubes that were decorated. Then they wore gloves and masks and would send candy down the tubes to stay distanced. To me, that’s some dedication to the holiday. lol E is 13 now, so only planning on trick or treating for a couple more years.
 
We have haunted houses again… too scary for me! There’s a tour of haunted sites in Portland. We have several neighborhoods that are families with older children and they go all out. There are more Halloween decorations than Christmas. Those neighborhoods give alcoholic beverages to adults and full size bars to kids. My parents live in the best area, well lit streets, single family homes with elementary or older kids, lots of fun decorations. In 2020, they all set up candy chutes made of pvc pipes or wrapping paper tubes that were decorated. Then they wore gloves and masks and would send candy down the tubes to stay distanced. To me, that’s some dedication to the holiday. lol E is 13 now, so only planning on trick or treating for a couple more years.
i think i went trick or treating up til i was 18... i could totally pass as a younger teen still and still go if i wanted, but my moms not too keen on the idea for some reason (come on, free candy & snacks) :p i'm only 4'8, at 21
 
We have haunted houses again… too scary for me! There’s a tour of haunted sites in Portland. We have several neighborhoods that are families with older children and they go all out. There are more Halloween decorations than Christmas. Those neighborhoods give alcoholic beverages to adults and full size bars to kids. My parents live in the best area, well lit streets, single family homes with elementary or older kids, lots of fun decorations. In 2020, they all set up candy chutes made of pvc pipes or wrapping paper tubes that were decorated. Then they wore gloves and masks and would send candy down the tubes to stay distanced. To me, that’s some dedication to the holiday. lol E is 13 now, so only planning on trick or treating for a couple more years.
Oh wow!! Thats so fancy!! I havent seen anywhere that fancy in a long time. I remember one year when I was little someone was giving out iced cookies from the local bakery (theyre packaged from the bakery individually on a foam tray and plastic so luckily they were sealed so no issue). Thats the biggest thing I think I ever got. Not sure anyone ever gave out full size bars... maybe I got a full size kitkat once but im not sure.
I miss the crazy decorations! I remember one year we drove to a cousins house like 4 hours away to trick or treat and there were so many fancy houses. Someone had decorated one of their houses in Addams Family decor and so many pumpkins!!
 
We don't get trick or treators out here in the middle of nowhere, the nearby town has a thing in the square they do every year, and I'm pretty sure a bunch of the houses there also give out candy.
 
I used to trick or treat at my grandparents old house down town and she would get hundreds and run out of candy. I didn't even care about going out I just wanted to stay and help her hand out candy. I found this the same at my old house, I would decorate really cool and I had hundreds of kids come. I spent $200-$250 in candy every year! That's not even the whole bar stuff :lolpony: .
Now that I have moved to a more rural area I don't expect anyone to come. I'm still decorating though!! I thought about doing a trunk or treat, but I think I will save candy money for more decorations :pumpkin:
My 14 has never really liked going trick or treating, he used to be scared but now he's just a teenager. It was always very hard on him and us since he doesn't walk or talk. Most houses are not ready for that. I would be wore out now just thinking about all the lifting and transferring I would do. He would rather be home eating candy or watching a movie.
 
We live on a very back road in a very small town. No one ever comes here looking for candy. We take our granddaughter up into the small town and hit the houses and businesses on the main road and that's all. Not much in the way of spooky haunted houses, but the older kids move in noisy packs like werewolves through the streets and the fire department keeps everything well lit and the traffic slow with their lights on in the middle of the turning lane all night.
 
i think i went trick or treating up til i was 18... i could totally pass as a younger teen still and still go if i wanted, but my moms not too keen on the idea for some reason (come on, free candy & snacks) :p i'm only 4'8, at 21
I went until I was 17! I don’t usually tell people cause I figure they’ll be judgy about it lol. I’m of the opinion that you’re a kid until you graduate highschool and if you’re still a kid then why shouldn’t you get to trick or treat? Honestly if it was acceptable for older people to trick or treat I totally would! It’s fun and who doesn’t like free candy? :smile:
(Also when I was 17 I looked like I was maybe 14 so nobody ever questioned me haha)
 
Some neighborhoods do trick or treating, others don't. Dunno about apartment buildings, but most of the surrounding neighborhoods go to either the one across the street from us, the mall, or to spring valley lake. They usually get a good haul. My neighborhood doesn't get any trick or treaters because they haven't installed any street lamps until this year. And they're sparse.
 
We always went to the "Fall Festival" at church instead of trick-or-treating because Halloween was "Satan's Birthday"... I do see less uh, zealous, churches host trunk-or-treats more often now.

I never got trick-or-treaters when I lived in an apartment but my grandparents did at their houses. It seemed pretty common for folks to truck in kids and drop them off at the front of the subdivision.

But, we'll be fully in our new house by Halloween and it looks like a neighborhood full of kids! I can't wait to decorate and hand out candy!
:ghost::pumpkin::grave:
 
My neighborhood isnt really full of kids anymore, they all grew up and its mainly just their parents now. (i was one of the kids who grew up lol)

but it is started to shift where i see more kids. The thing about my street, im the last street in the neighborhood and it is past an open field, so most people dont make it down this way, but when they do, i get a couple or few trick or treaters

My dad signed up for a trunk-or-treat last year and this year, so hell do that again :)
 
I live way out in the boonies, so I've never had trick or treaters where I live, unless you count my nieces. Back when I lived in a neighborhood; it wasn't much better, since it was mostly snobby old people.
 
i think i went trick or treating up til i was 18... i could totally pass as a younger teen still and still go if i wanted, but my moms not too keen on the idea for some reason (come on, free candy & snacks) :p i'm only 4'8, at 21

I went until I was 17! I don’t usually tell people cause I figure they’ll be judgy about it lol. I’m of the opinion that you’re a kid until you graduate highschool and if you’re still a kid then why shouldn’t you get to trick or treat? Honestly if it was acceptable for older people to trick or treat I totally would! It’s fun and who doesn’t like free candy? :smile:
(Also when I was 17 I looked like I was maybe 14 so nobody ever questioned me haha)

I think you should be able to trick or treat as long as you have a costume and are polite. E can go as long as they want, however, E could easily pass for a 16 year old already.
 
I think you should be able to trick or treat as long as you have a costume and are polite. E can go as long as they want, however, E could easily pass for a 16 year old already.
That would be awesome if that was how other people thought about it :D
I’ve actually heard about a group of college kids getting fined for trick or treating though, not cause they caused trouble or anything just cause some parents said they shouldn’t be allowed I guess
 
I think you should be able to trick or treat as long as you have a costume and are polite. E can go as long as they want, however, E could easily pass for a 16 year old already.
im of that opinion as well... i mean on halloween your front door is basically welcoming with full access to the public- why WOULDNT some older people not want what you have to offer? its snacks- everyone loves snacks and everyone loves to have a bit of fun on a major holiday... it doesn't have to be that you only must enjoy house decorating or handing out candy right after you turn 18 :p (not that i dont personally enjoy those things, it just feels more like halloween when you go door to door in costume)
recently ive had a lady at the hair salon mistake me for 12 yrs old or younger. i like that i look younger but that much younger? that's a bit... :blink:
 
That would be awesome if that was how other people thought about it :D
I’ve actually heard about a group of college kids getting fined for trick or treating though, not cause they caused trouble or anything just cause some parents said they shouldn’t be allowed I guess
If anyone is causing trouble then they shouldn’t be going. It just ruins things for everyone else.

im of that opinion as well... i mean on halloween your front door is basically welcoming with full access to the public- why WOULDNT some older people not want what you have to offer? its snacks- everyone loves snacks and everyone loves to have a bit of fun on a major holiday... it doesn't have to be that you only must enjoy house decorating or handing out candy right after you turn 18 :p (not that i dont personally enjoy those things, it just feels more like halloween when you go door to door in costume)
recently ive had a lady at the hair salon mistake me for 12 yrs old or younger. i like that i look younger but that much younger? that's a bit... :blink:
There are many Halloween parties here, too. I don’t really do 21 and older activity, but I love some cosplay. Also, we lived so far out in the middle of no man’s land when I was 7-12, maybe I’m making up for it now. Nobody comes to my house trick or treating because we don’t have sidewalks or street lights, plus everyone on the street is either at a party or out with their kids. I just take E and their bestie. Last year E was asked if I was their sister!
 
That would be awesome if that was how other people thought about it :D
I’ve actually heard about a group of college kids getting fined for trick or treating though, not cause they caused trouble or anything just cause some parents said they shouldn’t be allowed I guess
That sucks!! If they were only trick or treating like everyone else idk what kind of fine the police would even give like. " Hey some parents dont like college kids trick or treating so youve got to pay a fine for being 20 and having candy in a bucket"? That hardly seems fair or possible. I would be so madd. :hmph:
 
That sucks!! If they were only trick or treating like everyone else idk what kind of fine the police would even give like. " Hey some parents dont like college kids trick or treating so youve got to pay a fine for being 20 and having candy in a bucket"? That hardly seems fair or possible. I would be so madd. :hmph:
I don’t see how they could police it except on a case to case basis. I just grew up with a mom who said ‘if they come to the door with a costume, they get candy’ for Halloween. We were in Simi Valley CA and as long as the older kids made some concession to a costume (makeup, mask, a sheet, etc) They got candy.
 
The porch light on = come get some candy in my neck of the woods, but with the neighborhood kids all grown, I ended up with a bowl full of candy to myself, and honestly, who can complain about that?

I just did the whole honor system thing because I figured that since there's no kids round here, if a kid did roll up all this way for candy, they should honestly grab a few handfuls for all that effort so it's not a total waste, but alas. I don't think any of the neighbors even bothered, so heck, if a kid dumped the whole bowl in their bag after trawling through a dead zone like this I wouldn't complain.
 
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