Getting Spooky this year in The Dalles

Jill Macnab’s Yard on West 10 St, The Dalles.

By: Haley Mast

The Dalles Main Street has decided to cancel their downtown Halloween trick-or-treat event due to social distancing precautions. If your plan was to take the kiddos to downtown fear no more, there are many other alternatives to supply your children with a fun and safe Halloween celebration! Community members of The Dalles express their dynamics of celebrating Halloween this year. 

Community input on traditional door-to-door  

Ohio Dad, Andrew Beattie, makes a candy-launcher out of an old brown shipping tube. His plan for contactless trick-or-treating is to open factory sealed candy bags outside, and change gloves frequently between halloween visitors.

Many community members of The Dalles said they will be participating in the traditional door-to-door trick or treating this year. Rhonda Collins of The Dalles said, “we are going to decorate our doorway and the porch light will be on.” The parents who typically take their kids downtown can enjoy a nice walk around The Dalles searching for homes with porch lights on. 

To ensure safety Margie Conrad said, “Our idea is to put a few pieces of candy in a ziplock baggie with our address so they not only know where it came from but they can also allow the bag open to the air for 24 hours.” Margie will have her porch light on to let those celebrating door-to-door style know she is passing out treats.  

Jasmin Magana said her family will have lots of fun decor for families to walk by and enjoy, they will also be participating in handing out candy after they finish walking around door-to-door themselves. 

Getting creative at home

Photo courtesy of Spaceships & Laser Beams

Get your kiddos involved in a do-it-yourself (DIY) project that are Halloween themed. You can create projects that are interactive. Using old tin cans (soup cans, soda cans) paint up your favorite Halloween-themed ideas -black cats, ghosts, Frankenstein, mummies, and other spooky characters-  stack them in a pyramid and toss bean bags or other soft items to knock the tower over.  The instructions for this Halloween DIY and more fun crafts can be found here.

Remy Carter of The Dalles said she is going to create an interactive search for her little one this Halloween.” we're going to fill mini pumpkins or witch's cauldrons with candy, decorate our yard up then hide them and have him search for them like you would Easter Eggs,” she said.

Remy said “I'm also thinking of turning our porch into a little "haunted house" and having that be our space to carve/paint pumpkins and decorate Halloween cookies.”

 Other members of The Dalles have also joined Remy with the idea of creating a mini Halloween festival at home. 

Sarah Mall said “I'm planning on designing a spooky adventure/scavenger hunt for my kids...Dad's going to play a scary boss for them to loot at the end! It's going to be a hoot!”

Creepy decor for all to see

The white house on West 10th Street in The Dalles has had a parade of Halloween dolls for seven years. 

Some of the yard Dolls at Jill’s house

Jill Macnab said the tradition started with her two daughters who were initially scared of dolls. So she challenged them to do the Halloween doll decorations. 

"It worked," Jill said of them getting over their fears. But now the family works to add new and interesting twists on their yard displays. 

Several people asked Jill if they would be putting up a display this year in the wake of the virus. So they came up with the idea for the hearse last week. Jill said they built it with repurposed lumber and a few items from St. Vincent de Paul's thrift shop.

The Family is not planning on trick or treating, but they wanted to keep the spirit of the holiday alive with their decorations. 

"The only problem now, is storing it all," she said

The Halloween Hearse in Jill’s yard

Times are far different but Halloween doesn't have to be

“I know how hard it is to have to figure out how to do holidays and events without community-hosted programs to assist, but there are ways to make it fun for your kids!...This year is UNPRECEDENTED. We have to band together the best we can, and not take our anger out on our community. The Dalles CAN & WILL get through this!” said Sarah Mall.

CDC suggestions

The CDC has listed low risk, moderate risk, and higher risk activities for Halloween.

Low-risk activities include:

• Carving or decorating pumpkins outside, at a safe distance, with neighbors or friends

• Doing a Halloween scavenger hunt where children are given lists of Halloween-themed things to look for while they walk outdoors from house to house admiring Halloween decorations at a distance

• Having a virtual Halloween costume contest

• Having a scavenger hunt-style trick-or-treat search with your household members in or around your home rather than going house to house

Moderate-risk activities include:

• Participating in one-way trick-or-treating where individually wrapped goodie bags are lined up for families to grab and go while continuing to social distance (such as at the end of a driveway or at the edge of a yard)

• Having a small group, outdoor, open-air costume parade where people are distanced more than 6 feet apart

• Going to an open-air, one-way, walk-through haunted forest where appropriate mask use is enforced, and people can remain more than 6 feet apart

Higher-risk activities include:

• Attending crowded costume parties held indoors

• Going to an indoor haunted house where people may be crowded together and screaming

• Traveling to a rural fall festival that is not in your community if you live in an area with community spread of COVID-19

More information can be found on the CDC website or by clicking here.