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Barry Lewis

Where have all the trick-or-treaters gone?

Barry Lewis
Posted 10/28/22

That’s not a Pete Seeger song. Just me lamenting at what has now become a yearly occurrence. Or should I say, non-occurrence.

I live on a country road in a town without a traffic light in …

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Barry Lewis

Where have all the trick-or-treaters gone?

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That’s not a Pete Seeger song. Just me lamenting at what has now become a yearly occurrence. Or should I say, non-occurrence.

I live on a country road in a town without a traffic light in what’s a pretty rural county. My expectation for seeing a whole bunch of four-foot-tall Wonder Women or a few Buzz Lightyears is minimal.

But in the past few years, minimal has trickled down from a few ghosts to invisible trick-or-treaters. Last year I rang my own doorbell so I wouldn’t feel guilty opening the bag of candy. Neighborhoods change. We have fewer kids living near us. I get it.

But I blame the real drop in trick-or-treaters on the increase of those “trunk-or-treat” events that I think take the true fun and level of kid independence out of Halloween and turn it into yet another adult-manipulated gathering.

Folks bring their decorated cars to a central location, usually a school or church parking lot. Then kids walk from car to car, collecting candy from out of the trunks. How’s that for excitement.

Some parents see it as a safe way for their kids to celebrate Halloween. That’s true. But are they really enjoying the holiday or learning how to walk around a car lot?

Personally, I see it as an easy alternative to walking the neighborhood with your kids. Parents, it’s time to ground the helicopter and give your kids some freedom.

Of course, if you have young children and live in Sullivan County – where you’re a stone’s throw away from just another stone – then the real trick of Halloween is to get your kids in and out of the car enough times so they arrive home with enough treats.

Think it’s easy to strap a lion in a car seat 30 times and not crease its tail or damage its mane?

I earned my kid’s Halloween candy. Drive to a house. Get out. Get the boys out of their car seats. Watch as they walk up to the house. They ring the bell. “Trick-or-treat!” Walk back to the car. Climb back into the car seat. Back out the driveway and down the road to another house.

“Save the Reese’s,” I’d yell, watching in the rear view as they upholstered the seats in chocolate and peanut butter.

Bonnie reviews their intake: “It’s your third Reese’s. And you just had a Butterfinger. Did you eat a Milky Way? You don’t need another Reese’s.”

By this point, they’ve got enough sugar in them to push the car to the next house.

“No, you can’t eat the apple,” I yell back. “We don’t know what’s in the apple. I didn’t say there was something in the apple. No, I don’t think your aunt put anything in the apple. Hurry up and finish your Reese’s. Time for more trick-or-treat. Wipe your face. Not on the seats!”

Trunk-or-treat takes all that away. It assumes the holiday is simply about amassing free food. OK, it is, but let’s stay on point.

Trunking also subtly suggests that kids are in peril walking up to any neighbor’s porch. Are we that paranoid?

In Brooklyn, my parents only advice was, “Be careful” and “don’t get home late.”

We’d hit the private homes or the apartments just off Kings Highway. We didn’t know who lived there but it didn’t matter.

Halloween is about kids walking around the neighborhood, especially when they’re old enough to go out with just their friends. It’s about children getting this one chance one time of year to dress up and act like adults. Let them go ring doorbells and yell “trick-or-treat” instead of checking trunks for spare tires.

Barry Lewis is a longtime journalist and author who lives with his wife Bonnie in the Town of Neversink. He can be reached at      barrylewisscdemocrat@gmail.com.

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