A decades-old Halloween curfew in Bonnyville erupted into province-wide news last week, prompting local residents to question St. Paul's even tighter Halloween hours. In St. Paul, trick-or-treating hours have long been held from 4 to 6 p.m.
A decades-old Halloween curfew in Bonnyville erupted into province-wide news last week, prompting local residents to question St. Paul's even tighter Halloween hours.
In St. Paul, trick-or-treating hours have long been held from 4 to 6 p.m., something that astonished Brandi Frowen when she first started taking her daughter, Abigail, trick-or-treating back in 2009.
Halloween has always been a fun holiday for her, with her and Abi often taking up to an hour to get dressed in their elaborate costumes.
“I'm trying to get her ready, and myself ready and people are already ringing the doorbell at 4:05 p.m.,&” she said of her Halloween experiences in St. Paul, adding that following school and work, it's a rush for families to get out the door. Some parents are home even later, and hardly have any time to get dressed and take their children out, she noted.
“The hours they have are just completely inconsistent with actual life.&”
Frowen has her own fun in going out in the evening on Halloween trick-or-treating, and says with a laugh, “I love scaring the (crap) out of people and they're taking it away from me!&”
After a month of debates that saw the issue making provincial headlines, at a Sept. 22 council meeting, Bonnyville council opted to keep its town curfew as it is, until 7 p.m. However, Mayor Gene Sobolewski noted there was a lot of “misconceptions&” about the curfew. In Bonnyville, if children under the age of 16 wish to continue trick-or-treating past 7 p.m., they can do so as long as they are accompanied by an adult.
A question posed to the St. Paul Journal's Facebook followers about St. Paul's curfew drove a host of complaints, with people calling it “old school and controlling&” and “ridiculous.&” However, a few people supported the curfew, with one pointing to activities at the Recreation Centre as a safe alternative, and another woman saying that as a single mom, she preferred not having to open her door to strangers in the dark evening hours.
Town of St. Paul council has in the past supported the practice of having a curfew that coordinates with daytime hours at that time of year. Unlike Bonnyville, the curfew is set strictly from 4 to 6 p.m., regardless of whether or not children are accompanied by an adult.
Cindy Litwinski, municipal assistant for the Town of St. Paul, said that people interested in asking for a change in the hours should submit their request in writing to the Town of St. Paul CAO or mayor and council, to be added to council's meeting agenda. Requests must be made at least a week in advance of the next meeting; council's next meeting will take place at 7 p.m. on Oct. 14.
“The start would be a presentation. They can go over pros and cons,&” she said. “It's up to council either to change their mind or continue as they've been doing.&”
Mayor Glenn Andersen said that right now, the curfew seems to work, allowing people to have time to trick or treat, followed by Halloween festivities at the Recreation Centre. “We try to have something for everyone,&” he said, adding nobody has seemed to mind the current hours.
However, he said council was open to listening if people wanted to request change. “Hey, anything's possible. . . If people make a presentation, council would definitely listen to it.&” However, the argument needs to provide good merit, he said.
Frowen, for one, was already in the midst of writing a letter to town, and planned to attend the next meeting to voice her concerns. While she doesn't have a problem with having a curfew, Frowen felt the hours could be pushed back to accommodate families, and held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. instead.
“If I want to take my kids trick or treating, that should be my right,&” she said.
