Chelsea’s daughter, Adara (left) with friend, Anika, trick-or-treating on Halloween in 2019.
Halloween is one of my family’s favorite holidays. There’s always a lot of excitement around costumes, decorations, and strategizing how to get more candy year after year. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Halloween will certainly be different this year.
According to Lindsey Walsh, Issaquah City Council member, the city of Issaquah is discussing what we can do as a community to celebrate Halloween and stay safe. [Note: Since October Connections was published, the city has provided guidance and ideas for this year’s Halloween. Click here for details.] While I look forward to hearing any official guidelines, my family is already making alternate Halloween plans. Instead of traditional parties, we’ll attend the community’s virtual Halloween Trivia event and instead of going trick-or-treating with the kids, we’ll plan a fun family celebration at home.
See all the fall holiday fun in Issaquah Highlands on our online “Holidays in the Highlands” guide.
Our local social media groups have been a great resource for ideas about how to celebrate as a community, as well as creative ideas to make a “spooktacular” celebration at home. I loved this idea from Central Park resident, Teresa Cowan: have a socially-distanced “monster mash” dance on your street, almost like a mini block party. Several people on social media commented they plan to leave out bowls of candy or hand out individually wrapped goody bags on Halloween night.
I look forward to trying some of the other ideas posted on social media for making new traditions and having a special Halloween celebration at home with my family. There are so many great suggestions, like making caramel apples, watching spooky movies, designing masks, creating goody bags for kiddos, eating a special pizza dinner, having a piñata, or hiding candy at home for a flashlight search.
Whatever we do this year, we’ll be sure to embrace the Halloween spirit of fun, candy, and a touch of scary.
NOTE: This article was published in October 2020 Connections, featuring “Homebound Holidays in the Highlands: Celebrating Together, Apart in Issaquah Highlands.” Stories were provided by the Issaquah Highlands Cross-Cultural Committee. Read more stories in this series here.
