To the Editor:
Now that the shock and awe of Halloween on William Street has once again subsided, I think it’s time to discuss this event for the future. My partner and I were once again looking forward to this festive evening with great anticipation, getting into the spirit of the event by decorating our house and even getting our “goofy” Gordon setters into the act by fitting them with skunk costumes to greet the trick-or-treaters. We had 1,200 bags of organic nachos to give out. Last year we had 1,124 stop by, so we figured that we would have plenty and then some … However, by 7:15 pm, it became clear that we were getting way more trick-or-treaters than last year! Starting to panic, my partner made a run to Stop and Shop, buying up every bag of individually wrapped candies hoping that this would be enough. But the waves of kids kept coming. One of my neighbors who fronts Main Street came by and offered her candy to us, which was also quickly swept up in this ongoing wave! By 8 pm, we had to finally shut our lights off as we were completely out … but the crowds continued.
We estimated that over 2,000 kids and parents came to William Street this year. The town encourages this by having the police block off our neighborhood, so I would like to suggest that in future years, the town think about helping to subsidize the residents of William Street that are given this unfair burden. Two years ago, somebody put a up a big box just inside the entrance of Cronig’s Market that read, “If you live in a ‘Halloween-challenged neighborhood,’ why not help out the people of William Street and buy some candy that will be distributed to them.” Don’t get me wrong, we all love this event and feel honored that we are considered a safe neighborhood to have this festive evening, and we love seeing all the costumes of the trick-or-treaters out with their parents, but this has grown to a level that’s putting an unfair burden on us.
Paul Doherty
Vineyard Haven
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