When you move to Harvard, wherever in town you settle and whether you have children or not, one of the first things people will ask you is, “Do you know about Halloween?” And what you need to know is that Halloween is a highlight of the year in Harvard, and the place to be is town center. This year trick-or-treating is Tuesday, Oct. 31, from 5 to 7 p.m.
With 40 houses in easy walking distance of one another, little princesses, superheroes, witches, ghouls, and Taylor Swifts can connect with friends and make a large candy haul in less than two hours. Assured of safety in large numbers and police presence—two or three officers on special duty join those on regular shift—parents can wait for their trick-or-treaters inside the General Store or out on the patio, enjoying a complimentary cup of the Gen’s famous chili and ordering hot chocolate, hot cider, beer, or wine until 7 p.m. And adults and kids alike can meet up to have a free hot dog and bag of popcorn at the Lions Club tent on the Common. There’s also water to wash down all the sugar that never makes it home. Bob O’Shea of the Lions said if it rains, there will be a large tent on the Common for trick-or-treaters to take shelter.
In recent memory, only a 2012 Halloween nor’easter and the first year of the pandemic have stopped Halloween from happening in Harvard. Up to the 1970s, kids mostly went trick-or-treating in their own neighborhoods. Then numbers started to grow, and it was clear kids were coming to the center from other parts of town—and maybe even other towns. And it was no longer just kids; adults donned costumes and seemed to have as much fun as their kids—if in fact they were even with kids. Things got pretty expensive and busy for residents around the center.
Enter a great idea
In 1994 Mary Jane Shelton of Bolton Road had realized that with houses spread out and many long driveways in town, the center was the place to be on Oct. 31, and the numbers had gotten out of hand. In collaboration with the police chief, she campaigned for residents living outside the center to drop off candy at the police station. There, administrative assistants to Harvard Police and Fire departments—Trish Rouvel and Pat Natoli—helped divide and bag it. Shelton would then redistribute it to houses in the historic district—sort of like a Halloween Robin Hood.
At first Shelton used a little red wagon and had her family’s assistance; then she needed a minivan and got high school Honor Society kids to do their community service by accompanying her around the center. It was a huge help for homeowners to receive those grocery bags filled with candy to give out to the now hundreds of trick-or-treaters swarming the center.
Another change that made things more manageable for town center residents was setting a time frame for trick-or-treating. In the old days, little monsters could knock on doors of homeowners until fairly late into the evening. Now the hours are from 5 to 7 p.m., and people are respectful of those hours.
When Shelton moved out of Harvard in 2017, she asked Rouvel to take over. Since then it has become Rouvel’s special project, and she has dubbed herself Halloween candy coordinator. In 2018, she and helpers distributed 164 plastic bags of candy. In 2019 a significant shift was made to replace the plastic bags with durable, reusable totes, which are more economically and environmentally friendly—and they hold more bags of candy. That year 89 bags were filled, and in 2021 there were 94.
Last year, Rouvel, overwhelmed and lacking enough help for the distribution, asked town center residents participating in Halloween to come to the Public Safety Building to pick up candy. She commented that it was a plus that she got to meet residents she didn’t know before as they picked up their bags.That is true again this year and pickup is Sunday, Oct. 29, between 9 a.m. and noon. Residents are asked to return the bags to the specified bins at the Public Safety Building.
On Tuesday, Oct. 24, Rouvel said so far she has packed only 33 bags—that’s only half way to last year’s 78 bags. She is hoping townspeople will make a big push between now and Sunday. Everyone wants to give treats, not get tricks.
Tuesday evening, the excitement in the air will be almost palpable as ghouls, witches, superheroes, and ghosts swarm the streets and the Common, coming and going in all directions, whooping, shouting, and laughing. The sugar highs will continue as the tote bags go back in storage to await another Halloween.
A throng of trick-or-treaters on Old Littleton Road in 2022. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)
