Following is a letter from Mayor Andrews concerning trick or treating in the city of Charles City:
In light of our current Covid pandemic, the City Council and I have had conversations on how we should proceed with trick-or-treating this year. We have consulted online sources as well as checking the plans of several other cities, and have decided to designate 5:30 to 7:30 PM on Saturday, October 31st as our trick-or-treating time. To provide for a safe event, we are suggesting several recommendations for all involved.
If you are a resident who would like to participate in serving trick-or-treaters, please turn on your porch light. If you are not comfortable participating this year, do not turn on your outside lights. For those who do hand out treats, we recommend that you wear a mask and gloves. Also, please hand out each individual treat rather than allowing children to reach into a common bowl. Distributing from an outside station is also preferable to being inside.
As far as our kids, you and your parents must decide if you are going to trick-or-treat or not. If you do, please go out as family groups or small groups only. We recommend that all kids wear some type of mask, and that only one group go to a household at once. Other groups should remain at a social distance on the sidewalk until the first group leaves the door.
We hope these guidelines will provide for a fun and safe Halloween. For those who decide to not go door to door, Community Revitalization will hold a Spook Drive-By rather than their normal Spook Walk on Thursday, October 29. Children may drive by Central Park from 5:30 to 7:30 PM on that evening and see several Halloween characters and receive a treat pack at the end. Community Revitalization will be coming out with more information on this event in the coming weeks.