Community

Halloween festivities adapt to pandemic challenges

By Patrick Adrian
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CLAREMONT — No one wanted to summon a pandemic to 2020’s Halloween festivities but take assurance that local communities are creatively adapting not to dampen holiday spirits.

Communities like Claremont, Charlestown, and Newport have had to rethink their Halloween traditions this season due to the novel coronavirus. Some organizations have opted to cancel annual events, while others have retooled their events to provide adequate health and safety to participants.

Claremont has replaced its annual Hallowesta, where children trick or treat at downtown businesses and offices, with Drive-Boo Halloween, a drive-thru alternative, which will take place from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31, in Monadnock Park.

According to an event description on the Claremont website, families will drive through the park to enjoy displays and decorations. Every child will receive a bag of candy from a custom-made dispenser created by Claremont resident John Lambert at the Claremont Makerspace.

Claremont Parks and Recreation Director Mark Brislin said they changed plans this year due to the large crowds that typically come to Hallowesta, which would have made it impossible to provide adequate social distancing and safety.

“It’s definitely challenging for a parks and recreation department, when you’re always trying to bring people together but now you’re keeping them apart at the same time,” Brislin told the Eagle Times on Friday.

The organizers are still looking for community support through either donations of candy to the Claremont Community Center or to decorate and host a Halloween display along the park route.

For example of a display, Amplified Arts, a performing arts center on Pleasant Street, plan to provide a “Halloween Dance Party” for passersby, Brislin said.

Brislin added that organizers are preparing 1,000 bags of candy in anticipation for the turnout.

In Charlestown, the Charlestown Police Association will host its third annual Trunk-or-Treat in the Charlestown Primary School Parking Lot from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Like Claremont’s Drive-Boo, this Trunk-or-Treat will be a drive-through event.

Lisa Perry, co-president of the Charlestown Police Association, said the hardest change is that the children will have to stay in their vehicles this year while picking up candy.

“We do get a big kick of checking out all their costumes,” Perry said.

A Trunk-or-Treat is a mobile spin on traditional house-to-house trick or treating, according to Perry.

Participants dress up and decorate their vehicle trunks in a Halloween theme and distribute candy to the children who stop.

“It’s almost like going door to door, only this is car to car,” Perry said.

The Charlestown Fire Department and Charlestown Ambulance Service will also bring vehicles and candy to the event.

Perry said this will not be the first year that organizers had to retool the Trunk-or-Treat. Two years ago, at the inaugural Trunk-or-Treat, there was so much cold, heavy rainfall that participants moved their displays indoors and decorated tables instead.

For Perry, the priority this year is to still give children the opportunity to have fun and enjoy the holiday but in a way that keeps everyone healthy.

“We want them to have fun and still be kids, but to do it safely,” she said.

Claremont hosts ‘Moody Park Spooky Ride’

Claremont is actually hosting two Halloween events this year. On Saturday the Parks and Recreation Department, in partnership with Claremont Cycle Depot are holding the first “spooky” bike ride in Moody Park, an approximately two mile “novice loop full of twist and turns” and other “surprises,” according to the event posting on the city website.

The ride is designed to be family-friendly and accessible to young riders, Brislin said.

“It’s a ride, not a race,” Brislin told the Eagle Times.

Nor will the event be scary, Brislin emphasized. There will be “spooky” decorations and features along the route but nothing that would startle or induce anxiety among little ones.

“There won’t be anyone jumping from behind trees and shouting ‘Boo,’” he said.

Families members are asked to bring protective masks and will be expected to practice social distancing. Helmets are required for all riders and bicycles and bicycles must be operable. Costumes are welcome but they must be safe to wear when riding a bike.

There is a participation fee of $10 per family or $5 per individual and requires pre-registration. To register visit the link https://bit.ly/34p9ltB or go to the city website for more information.

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