Is trick or treat too scary during pandemic?

A Port Washington mother on Tuesday asked the Common Council to allow trick or treating this year, despite the coronavirus pandemic.

“This is the one thing we can allow kids to do that would provide some normalcy for them,” Meaghan Hoffmann, 408 Sunrise Dr., told aldermen. 

But aldermen, wary of the spread of Covid-19, delayed action on trick or treat until their Oct. 6 meeting, saying they want input from the Washington Ozaukee Public Health Department before making a decision.

Hoffmann told the council that trick or treat may be the one activity that lends itself to the times.

It is held outdoors and is generally a family activity during which youngsters wear masks, she said, mitigating the risk.

By allowing trick or treat, the city will be able to set guidelines for those families to follow, Hoffmann, the mother of an “energetic 4-year-old,” said. 

Those conditions could include not only setting the date and time for the event but also requiring residents who are giving out candy to turn on their front lights and perhaps displaying paper pumpkins in their windows so people can opt out of the event.

“I really feel if the city does the easy thing (and cancels the event), residents are just going to do what they want,” Hoffmann said, adding they may trick or treat on multiple days and at varying times. “It’s about control.”

While Ald. Dan Benning said he agrees with Hoffmann, he said he fears the risk of transmission may be too great for the city to bear.

“My concern is with the candy that’s distributed,” he said, noting the city can’t guarantee the person handing it out or the children touching it won’t transmit the virus.

“I just don’t see how we as a council can endorse trick or treat this year,” he said. “The risk is just too high. The numbers are bad.”

Ald. Deb Postl agreed, saying, “I would not be able to take it very easily if we said yes and a kid gets sick.”

Ald. Jonathan Pleitner noted that even when the city has set conditions for events “we’ve seen people who are not wearing masks, are not following social distancing.

“We’ve been fairly lenient. It shows. The numbers are still going up. I hate to see trick or treat canceled, but I don’t want to share that burden.”

But Ald. John Sigwart noted that health officials have said the virus doesn’t spread easily from packages.

“My concern is we may be over-reacting,” he said. “Packaged M&Ms, are they really a problem?”

He asked that the city consult with the health department, something embraced by officials.

“Whatever comes from the health department, I can support,” Postl said. “I need to support science.”

But Mayor Marty Becker cautioned that even health experts don’t always agree, noting two of his friends are physicians who fall on opposite sides of the spectrum in how to deal with the pandemic.

“I don’t know who to believe,” he said.

Even if the city doesn’t schedule trick or treat hours, subdivisions will likely set times for their families to go out, City Administrator Tony Brown said.