Halloween is almost here, with all the excitement of trick-or-treating on the Common. Whether it’s 42 or 58 degrees, rainy or clear, hundreds of kids and parents flock to the Center, running from house to house, meeting friends, eating too much candy. It’s wild but fun. Last year, well over 1,000 trick-or-treaters came between 5 and 8 p.m.
But the appeal of Halloween on the Common puts it at increasing risk. The police are supportive and attentive but cannot be everywhere. There are still plenty of cars, picking up, dropping off, and, occasionally, driving home or to dinner out. Little princesses can trip over trailing gowns; Batman and werewolf, Obama and Palin masks can slip over eyes as kids run. Last year some kids fell over curbs or slipped in the leaves, some little kids got pushed by big kids, but nobody got badly hurt. The pace is unrelenting: over 300 kids an hour—over five a minute or one every 12 seconds—with little time to make sure kids are safe. (And no time to compliment handmade costumes or joke with kids you know.) It will be dark by 6, and with all those children running in and across streets, we worry that, sooner or later, there will be a serious accident.
The current situation is unsustainable; we ask everybody involved to think hard how to make Halloween safer next year. And lots of people are involved, not just folks in the center: parents and kids, Bromfield students who help manage lines and hand out candy, the police, people from outside the center who provide candy and facilitate trick-or-treating in the center. This means watching with an analytical eye, not only enjoying the excitement. We worry that if something bad happens—and that is only a matter of time, with the ever-increasing numbers—Halloween on the Common may have to end for safety and liability reasons. This would be a great loss for all of us, in the center and outside it. Let’s reason together, as a community, and avoid a tragedy and preserve this small-town tradition.
Kathy Hewett and Billy Salter, Elm Street
Marge and Steven Darby, Ayer Road
Pat Hatch and Kyle Hendrick, Ayer Road
Deborah Sauvé and Scott Hayward, Elm Street
