Durham mayor: Turn off the porch lights for a safe Halloween celebration
Durham Mayor Steve Schewel announced Halloween guidelines Tuesday that included households turning off their porch lights to discourage trick-or-treaters going door to door.
Schewel lives in the Watts Hospital-Hillandale neighborhood, a Halloween magnet where children can line up a dozen deep to get candy from houses along Club Boulevard. More than 1,500 kids come to his porch for candy every year, Schewel said.
“I love Halloween,” said Schewel, who donned a black witch’s hat briefly and stood in front of two straw scarecrows during a press conference at the Holton Career and Resource Center. ”It’s one of my favorite holidays.”
Schewel said he loves seeing the annual stream of ghosts, goblins and Spider-Mans but said things will have to change this year.
“The last thing that we want is for Halloween to become a super-spreader event in our community,” he said.
There are still lots of ways to have fun at Halloween, he said.
Other Triangle cities are also asking residents to take precautions because of the coronavirus this year.
In Raleigh, the city on Tuesday emphasized the state’s guidelines, which categorize trick-or-treating as a “higher-risk” activity.
Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin asked if the city could partner WakeMed to provide masks and candy in a drive-thru Halloween event.
”We want to celebrate Halloween this year,” she said. “We have to do things a little bit differently.”
In Chapel Hill, town officials have said there will be no town Halloween celebration or other festivals the rest of this year, including the annual holiday parade. The town has not said how it will keep people from spontaneously coming downtown on Halloween, which typically attracts crowds in the thousands.
Durham Halloween guidelines
Schewel discouraged both door-to-door trick-or-treating and trunk-or-treat events typically held by religious and business groups.
Instead he recommended:
▪ Turning off porch lights in neighborhoods that typically attract large crowds of trick-or-treaters.
▪ Arranging small groups wearing masks to trick or treat with touchless transmission of treats outside.
▪ Watching scary movies, pumpkin carving with friends spaced six feet apart, and holding virtual costume contests.
▪ Encouraging drive-through, touchless trick-or-treating in church parking lots and elsewhere.
▪ Participating in contact-free events held by the Durham Parks and Recreation department, which require preregistration.
The department is holding events starting Oct. 23, including a flashlight scavenger hunt, “Trick or Treat, Stay 6 Feet” event at Holton Career and Resource Center.
The city is also holding a drive-through event at West Point on the Eno and two bike rides on the American Tobacco Trail on Oct. 31.
State COVID-19 restrictions limit gatherings to 25 people indoors and 50 people outdoors. The city will continue to enforce those rules, Schewel said. If people are egregiously flouting the guidelines a police office may ask them to disperse, he said.
“This is not about enforcement. This is about voluntary enforcement,” the mayor said.
Schewel established the Halloween guidelines after he and other mayors recently met with Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
Schewel also met with neighborhoods known for drawing large crowds of trick-or-treaters, he said.
DHHS strongly recommended people find alternatives to traditional door-to-door trick-or-treating in guidance released Sept. 25.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Durham had had 8,011 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 378 active cases, according to the Durham County Public Health website. There had been 98 related deaths.
This story was originally published October 6, 2020 at 2:48 PM.
