Tips for a magical (and safe) Halloween

Growing up in Salem, the Halloween capital of the world, the last day in October has always been a special day in the young life of 4-year old Jeffrey Parker.

So, as COVID-19 case counts continue to rise in Massachusetts and a long, dark winter looms, Jeffrey’s parents, Jennessa and Charles, have had to come up with a creative way for their son to safely enjoy the holiday.

The solution: a trick-or-treat bubble.

It’s like the NBA, just with smaller participants.

“We just moved to a tiny neighborhood in Danvers, and we are pretty isolated,” Jennessa said. “All of the moms that have small kids are pretty close and we sort of talked and said, ‘I will have candy at my house if you have candy at your house.’”

Jennessa said she will only be bringing Jeffrey and his sister, Penny, 2, to homes with families they know have been safe and isolated during the health crisis.

“It’ll be 15 minutes of walking around to feel like we did Halloween,” she said.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health recently released tips to help families like the Parkers who are looking for ways to safely celebrate Halloween during the pandemic. Modified trick-or-treating with family – rather than large groups of kids -- and partaking in other spooky activities outdoors is recommended, health officials say.

A few easy steps can help make the evening both fun and safe, according to DPH

• Instead of putting candy on a bowl, DPH suggests using a self-serve grab-and-go platter that is at least 6 feet from your door
• Encourage children to go one-way down a street so they can stay at least six feet from each other
• Consider leaving hand sanitizer near the treats, so trick-or-treaters can keep their hands clean between houses

And health experts stress that, while Halloween lends itself naturally to mask wearing, not all masks are meant to prevent the spread of a potentially deadly virus.

“The plastic mask that makes you look like Mickey Mouse -- that’s not a mask,” said Dr. Ashley Yeats, a longtime emergency room doctor and vice president of medical operations at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.

Trick-or-treaters and their parents both need to don the same kind of mouth-and-nose facial covering that they would use going into a store or a restaurant, health officials say.

As with other activities, avoiding crowds is essential and people should stay home if they do not feel well or have recently traveled to a state that is one deemed “high-risk” for Covid-19 transmission, health officials said.

This is also not the year to go to a haunted house or costume party or on a haunted hayride with strangers, the CDC notes in its Halloween tips.

“The good news is Halloween is an outdoor event,” Yeats said. “You can go outdoors and keep your family unit socially distanced, figure out how to draw kitty whiskers on your face mask, and go as Sylvester -- but wear a face mask.”

All of that is good news for Jeffrey Parker.

“Halloween is his absolute favorite holiday,” said Charles Parker, Jeffrey’s dad. “He just likes to put on a costume and run around and see his friends in costume.”

Jeffrey has a mask, the kind that will provide proper face protection, with Spiderman on it. So he will be trick-or-treating as the Marvel Comics super hero. Penny will be wearing one of Jeffrey’s hand-me-down costumes, which just happens to be a spider.

“She is the radioactive spider that bit Spiderman to make him Spiderman,” Jeffrey explained.

In addition to trick-or-treating, DPH notes that getting together as a family to watch Halloween movies is a great option. Jeffrey noted that he likes “spooky stories, as long as they aren’t too spooky.”

Health officials suggest families can also celebrate by:

• Holding a virtual costume or pumpkin carving contest
• Preparing a Halloween-themed meal
• Trick-or-treating room-to-room at home
• Decorating their yards for others to enjoy from the street
• 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,

While it may require a little creativity, some planning, and a few squirts of hand sanitizer, the Parkers and other Massachusetts families are hoping to find a way to make this a holiday to remember.

“We are creating new Halloween traditions,” Jennessa said.

^{PHOTO OF Dr. ASHLEY YEATS BY MICHAEL GRIMMETT}