Trick or Treat…Saturday or Sunday?
Turns out the trickiest part about Halloween this year is not what to wear, but when to wear it.
With Oct. 31 falling on a Sunday, parents are wondering when to take their children door to door for treats.
Laurie Conley of Rose Hill Plantation in Bluffton is among them. She’s still not sure when she’ll take her three children — ages 4, 5 and 7 — out.
The Rose Hill Property Owners’ Association has not issued a statement on when trick or treaters should hit the streets.
Sunday night would not be good for the Conley kids. Unlike students in Beaufort County public schools, who are off next week, Conley’s children go to private school and must be back in class Monday.
“I don’t want to have to worry about getting them to bed, then up in the morning,” Conley said.
The Halloween-on-Sunday dilemma has sparked debate in municipalities around the country.
Some have picked a day for trick or treating.
Others, including Beaufort County, have not, according to spokeswoman Suzanne Larson.
“Council is sort of out of the Halloween business,” she said.
In nearby Chatham County, Ga., area mayors have set trick or treating for Saturday night. Chatham County Commission Chairman Pete Liakakis said some parents were concerned about celebrating the holiday on a Sunday, a day typically reserved for worship.
Some community associations have taken matters into their own hands.
The Board of Directors at Bluffton Park, for example, sent letters to residents that trick-or-treaters should go out on Saturday night.
But at Hilton Head Plantation, the holiday will take place on Sunday, as nature and the calendar intended, according to general manager Peter Kristian.
“We think Halloween should be on Halloween,” he said.
Law enforcement agencies will hedge their bets by staying alert both nights.
Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner said extra officers will be on traffic patrol and on foot around the county over the weekend, especially in neighborhoods where lots of costumed children are making rounds.
“I think that’s the safest thing to do,” he said.
If there is one bright spot in this dilemma, it is this: Halloween doesn’t fall on Sunday again until 2021
