Halloween in COVID-19: A Different Kind of Celebration

Halloween in COVID-19: A Different Kind of Celebration

Abigail Lott, Staff Writer

This year with COVID-19, Halloween, the spookiest day of the year, was different. Trick-or-treating was not the usual sight of children running around their neighborhood and there were no large parties. Instead, new COVID-19 restrictions ensured that communities stayed safe while enjoying some haunted fun.

Governor Baker did not cancel trick-or-treating outright, instead allowing towns to make their own Halloween decisions and guidelines. The state did require towns to observe the current restrictions on large gatherings. Many towns did not ban trick-or-treating but strongly encouraged people to continue using safety precautions. The Center for Disease Control recommended that houses put out individually packaged treats so that people did not stuff their hands into a bowl of candy, a potential source of shared germs. Some towns, such as Lowell, Springfield, and Worcester, canceled trick-or-treating.

Students and faculty at Falmouth Academy engaged in a variety of activities during and around the spooky Saturday night. This gave many people some light in a dark time, allowing them to still have fun with holidays and other celebrations even during the pandemic.

“We were outside, and when we went inside, we wore masks,” said Sadie Leveque 23’, who went over to a friend’s house while following Covid-19 procedures.

Other students, like Bobby Frigon 23’, hung out with friends, and watched scary movies. Mr. Dan Nightingale and his family went trick-or-treating in Falmouth. 

“It was different this year. Everyone either put out a bowl with candy individually wrapped or left out Ziploc bags for kids to grab from a table,” said Mr. Nightingale.

Some students did not celebrate Halloween altogether. Tyler Harmon 22’ had to work on Halloween and had an extremely busy night. Grace Coggins 25’ decided to watch Christmas movies instead to get into the Christmas spirit.

Instead of having the Halloween dance, Student Council hosted a costume contest on Friday, October 30th. Saniya Rajagopal 21’, Student Council President, said that 41 submissions were cast in the contest. The costumes included Ronald McDonald, Inside Out characters, Rosie the Riveter, and Joe Biden. There were several categories for the contest. The winners of the best group costume went to Ronan Cazeault 26’ and Caroline Cazeault 26’ for their farmer and carrot costumes. The scariest costume went to Charlotte Ray 23’ for dressing up as a shy guy losing first place in Mario Kart. There was a tie for most creative costumes between Faye McGuire 26’ as a jellyfish and Henry Redfield 23’ as Iron Man. The funniest costume went to Tyler Harmon 22’ who dressed as a fried egg – because it was simply so random and hilarious. The overall best costume was awarded to Eliza Chun 21’ who was an Among Us imposter. The best teacher costume was won by Mrs. Sharon Kreamer, who dressed as a mole (and a mole, as in, Avogadro’s number).