A Look Back: Debate On Berkeley Trick Or Treat Night A Hot One On Facebook

by Patricia A. Miller

Oct. 30 or Oct. 31? What’s your pleasure?

Halloween in Bayville is slowly disappearing, with the decision to hold trick or treat night on Oct. 31, the same night as the Toms River Halloween parade.

Trick or treaters had from noon to “dusk” - according to the police department’s Facebook page - to ring doorbells, show off their costumes and collect the goodies.

“Just a reminder that Halloween is Halloween in Berkeley Township!” the post stated. ” Trick or Treat will be on Saturday, October 31st beginning at Noon until dusk. This will allow more daylight hours for our children to have a safe and enjoyable Halloween experience.”

It was a marked changed from most years past, when all the small towns along the Toms River held trick or treat night on Oct. 30. That freed up residents who wanted to attend the parade without worrying about their children missing trick or treat night.

Although there were a few switches to different dates over the past few years, Toms River officials recently decided to move trick or treat night back to Oct. 30 and always have the parade on Halloween.

But with little discussion, Berkeley Township Council members voted at the Sept. 14 meeting to hold trick or treat night on Halloween, the same night as the parade.

“Halloween is Oct. 31,” Councilwoman Sophia Gingrich said. ”I think we should keep it that way.”

Younger children can trick or treat during the daytime and still attend the parade at night, Township Council President Judy Noonan said.

Neither Gingrich or Noonan live in Bayville. They both live in the senior villages in the western section of the town.

Just what should be done next year or what should have been done this year has been a heated topic of conversation on the public Facebook page Bayville, NJ...Best Place on Earth.

“Bayville was the only town to trick or treat in the 31st,” one woman wrote. “I’ll bet most kids from Bayville went to Pine Beach or Beachwood on the 30th. The parade has been a tradition on Halloween for over 75 years. No one ever had a problem with it. Clearly those complaining have not lived here their whole lives. I have a don’t want to see it changed.”

“The big problem begins with too many newcomers to the community not being aware of why trick or treating was changed to the day before...if our high school band, scout troops, etc. are participating in the annual parade, it’s not fair to their friends and family who want to attend the parade,” another woman wrote. ”Compounding that issue is Comcast’s not be community friendly by not broadcasting the parade for he surrounding communities, so if you don’t get to go, you don’t get to see it.”

The ”Trunk or Treat” events that have sprung up over the past few years are an ancillary way to celebrate Halloween. But every child should have the thrill of trick or treating on a cold October night.

What do you think folks? How should this be handled next year? Tell us in the comments section below: