U.S. Looks to Celebrate Halloween
ATLANTA (AP) - Jittery about anthrax and terrorism, Elizabeth Erwin still decided to let her son go trick-or-treating as a pirate for Halloween. But she vowed to examine the bounty more closely than ever.
``I'm trying not to worry too much,'' she said Wednesday, shopping for last-minute candy in a suburban Atlanta mall as 4-year-old Reed tugged at her shirt. ``People are just doing everything more carefully this year.''
The Erwins spent Halloween like millions of families - struggling to balance a holiday that makes light of fear with the new reality of life in the shadow of terrorism warnings.
In communities across the country, extra deputies were assigned to patrol the streets alongside little ghosts and goblins, ladybugs and ballerinas. Some parents decided the risk was too much, and kept trick-or-treaters from venturing through the neighborhood.
``There's a lot of copycat stuff out there,'' said Glenda Everett of Albany, N.Y., whose 5- and 11-year-old girls gave up the October ritual in favor of a quiet Halloween party. ``I don't want to take a chance with my children.''
For children - and grown-ups - who decided to dress up, patriotic themes were everywhere: Uncle Sams, Statues of Liberty and masked likenesses of President Bush.
The memory of the Sept. 11 terror attacks led department store clerk Bobby Sullivan to turn Halloween into a second Fourth of July. He was a walking American flag, complete with star-studded shirt, red-and-white stockings and a wig in patriotic colors.
``There's a lot of people hurting,'' he said, his outfit drawing amused looks in the food court of Gwinnett Place Mall outside Atlanta. ``We just have to go on.''
Aida Ross said it more defiantly as she snapped photos of her daughters, dressed as a princess and a butterfly, at a parade in New Haven, Conn.: ``No way am I going to let the terrorists ruin my Halloween.''
Still, the country was mixing its celebration with caution.
Law enforcement agencies nationwide issued warnings reminding parents to toss out any suspicious candy with torn or punctured wrappers. Police pledged to crack down on Halloween pranksters and put more officers on the streets.
The Mall of Georgia displayed signs reading ``No Masks On Anyone Over 12'' and ``No Toy Weapons.''
And the lingering threat of anthrax led some places to ditch candy, the staple of the holiday. A Maryland mall passed out trinkets instead, and offered pumpkin painting and storytelling.
Instead of sweets, Kristin Wyzik of Joplin, Mo., was handing out homemade cards. They told trick-or-treaters Wyzik had donated the $10 she would have spent on candy to a relief fund dedicated to children of Sept. 11 attack victims.
Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, who had discouraged trick-or-treating this year, found himself defending his name against parents who accused him of canceling Halloween.
``What we said is that because law enforcement is being so incredibly taxed working every time somebody spills a Pixy Stik and thinks they've got anthrax, that we simply didn't have the law enforcement personnel to go and look at every sack of candy in Arkansas,'' the governor said.
If there was a normal Halloween anywhere in America, it may have been in rural Taneytown, Md., population 5,200, which lifted an unofficial 20-year ban on Halloween festivities.
``Kids need some old-fashioned fun,'' said Naomi Lowenthal, the city's recreation director, who led the revival effort and urged parents to give candy to the town's children again. ``Especially this year.''
National Safe Kids Campaign: http://www.safekids.org
Originally published October 31, 2001.
