Hellertonians as well as residents of Lower Saucon Township who have long expressed a preference for having Trick-or-Treat on Halloween night have made themselves heard loudly and clearly.
With nearly half a foot of snow on the ground outside, Hellertown Borough Council president Tom Rieger Monday announced the results of a recent online poll in which he said holding Trick-or-Treat on Halloween night was the option chosen “by an overwhelming majority.”
In fact, 70 percent of those who voted in the poll chose the Halloween night option, Rieger said. The other 30 percent of respondents voted to hold Trick-or-Treat from 3 to 5 p.m. on the Sunday before Halloween, which is when Trick-or-Treat was held last year.
Rieger said 55 percent of poll respondents identified themselves as Hellertown residents. Forty-five percent were Lower Saucon Township residents.
Before council voted on when to hold this year’s Trick-or-Treat, there was an opportunity for public comment about the results of the poll, or for someone to express another opinion, but no one in attendance offered one.
Just before the vote, Mayor David Heintzelman commented that a goal moving forward is to keep the date when Trick-or-Treat is held in Hellertown set in “as close to stone as possible.”
“If (Halloween) ends up being on a Friday night and there’s a (high school) football game, we’re not changing it,” he said.
In fact, this year Oct. 31 falls on a Thursday, and since next year is a leap year the date of Halloween in 2020 will fall on a Saturday. So it will be a number of years until it can interfere with Saucon Valley’s beloved “Friday night lights.”
After a motion was made by councilman James Hill to hold Trick-or-Treat from 6 to 8 p.m. on Halloween night this year, it was approved 7-0 by council.
Lower Saucon Township Council will also have to vote on when to hold Trick-or-Treat, but in light of the results of the poll, Rieger speculated that they “will probably do the same thing.”
Tell us: Did you vote in the poll? Are you happy with the results and the new date for Trick-or-Treat?
