Trick-or-treating tips keep evening fan-filled
■ Eugene Police Spokeswoman
Pam Alejandre and University
parents offer safety suggestions
By Danielle Gillespie
for the Emerald
For many children, Halloween
means a chance to have fun dress
ing up and collecting candy. But for
parents, the night also involves en
suring their children’s safety as they
go door-to-door.
But according to Pam Alejandre,
spokeswoman for the Eugene Police
Department, if parents follow basic
protective methods for keeping chil
dren safe, there is no reason that Hal
loween can’t be a fun-filled evening.
Alejandre said the police depart
ment emphasizes that children
should travel in groups and be ac
companied by an adult while trick
or-treating. She also suggested that
children wear reflective gear so they
can be easily seen by traffic at night.
Parents should also attempt to avoid
costumes that could impair a child’s
vision and hearing, she said.
Alejandre also emphasized that
parents should only allow their chil
dren to go to houses of people they
know to ensure their children’s safety.
Some parents, such as Jodi Ryter, a
post-doctoral research associate in
the University Institute of Molecular
Biology, had already decided to take
their children only to familiar places.
"My son is two years old, and we
plan to only take him to five houses
because we think that is all he could
probably handle at his age, but even if
he were older I would only let him go
to houses of people that we knew,”
Ryter said. “The days of my child
hood —when we went to everyone’s
house in the neighborhood and gath
ered lots of candy—are over."
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But other parents don’t believe it
is always necessary for their chil
dren to trick-or-treat only at the
houses of people they know, as long
as they take other safety precautions.
“I have a little girl, and I plan to
go with her to each house,” said
Robin Harris, a senior psychology
major. “I think it is important for
parents of younger children to go to
the door with them, and when
they’re older, stand on the sidewalk
so that the door is visible. I do not
see a problem with letting children
go to houses of people that we do
not personally know, but I would
take my child trick-or-treating in a
nice neighborhood.”
Alejandre noted that parents also
should not allow children to eat their
candy until they can come home and
inspect it. If wrappers are tom or the
candy is homemade, it is a good indi
cator that children shouldn’t be al
lowed to eat it, she said.
“As a parent, I would not allow
my children to eat the candy until
we have gone home to inspect it,
and I would always go with my chil
dren,” said Lisa Mowry, a junior so
ciology major.
But for parents who would prefer
not to have their children out on the
town for Halloween, Harris offered
another option.
“I think a great alternative to go
ing trick-or-treating would be to
hide candy around the house and
have the children find it. It would
sort of be like Easter-egg hunting,”
Harris said.
Mowry suggested that the com
munity could help keep children
safe with organized trick-or-treating
possibilities.
“I think a really good idea that
could promote safety in the Eugene
area is to have a specific neighbor
hood blocked off to hand out candy
each year, and before Halloween, oth
er people could donate money to help
these families purchase the candy,”
she said. “Each year it could be a dif
ferent neighborhood, and it would be
a safe way for children to have fun. ”
Danielle Gillespie is a freelance reporter for
the Oregon Daily Emerald.
History
continued from page 3C
was a costume contest and a “pitcher
sale” from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. The cover
charge was 50 cents, which covered
the costs for seeing “Squizmo,” a lo
cal “progressive rock band.”
To put people in the Halloween
mood in 1983, the University The
atre produced and performed
“Dracula” on Halloween night.
An Oct. 31 art exhibition also put
some art students in the Halloween
spirit that same year. In Lawrence
Hall's Gallery 141, students dressed
up for the public reception, donning
costumes of witches, “grotesque char
acters,” the ghost of a former professor
and “even a flasher,” as reported in the
Oct. 31,1983, edition of the Emerald.
Some traditions stay alive
The early 1980s also saw the birth
of a new tradition on campus, and
one that still continues today: the In
ternational Student Association's an
nual Halloween party at Riley Hall.
The ISA’s current co-director
Shruti Shah said the event started
out as just a “dance party” that has
become a 900-person festival dur
ing its evolution.
“We have things like haunted hous
es, booths where people can have
their palms read, music and food,”
Shah said. “The basement will be
come a haunted house, and the street
level will become the dance area.
Everybody is welcome—it’s free. ”
While former President Bill Clinton
was hot on the campaign trail in 1992,
the University Bookstore hosted a Hal
loween party with $1 pumpkins, free
balloons and a costume contest. The
bookstore continues to have “parties”
even today, transforming the textbook
department into a haunted house.
In 1992, Bozo the Clown masks
were advertised, and the Emerald
sponsored a “Halloween Crossword
Puzzle” contest.
During that year, “The Rocky Hor
ror Picture Show” was featured live at
the Downtown Cabaret. A pre-show
party started at 10:30 p.m. Halloween
night, where organizer Mark Langlie
encouraged party-goers to arrive as ei
ther a “male, female or sweet trans
vestite.” There was food, desserts and
beverages for the guests before the
11:30 p.m. performance of the film.
“The Rocky Horror Picture Show”
continues to be a favorite on Hal
loween, gaining “greater cult status,”
said EMU Cultural Forum Film Co
ordinator Toussaint Perrault.
The Cultural Forum is hosting a
performance of “The Rocky Horror
Picture Show” this Halloween in the
EMU Ballroom. The festivities will
begin at 9 p.m. with a pre-show that
Perrault said shouldn’t be missed.
This party also encourages partici
pants to dress in costumes. Costumed
party-goers receive $1 off the $5 stu
dent admission or the $7 general ad
mission for the evening’s events.
Marcus Hathcock is a features reporter for the
Oregon Daily Emerald. He can be reached at
marcushathcock@dailyemerald.com.
Organizations
continued from page 5C
Admission costs between $5 and
$10, depending on how much atten
dees can afford, and they can get $1
off the entry price by donating a can
of food to Food for Lane County.
The festival runs from 1 to 10 p.m.
Lone Pine Farms, located north of
Eugene at 91909 River Road, has sev
eral different activities for the Hal
loween season. According to Dan
Murray, the operations manager, Lone
Pine has a 10-acre corn maze open
through Sunday from 4 to 10 p.m.
The maze is haunted each night
beginning at 7:30 p.m., he said, and
features actors carrying chainsaws or
dressed as Dracula, to name a few.
Admission for the maze is $4 for chil
dren under 12 and $6 for adults.
In addition to the corn maze, visi
tors to Lone Pine Farms can hitch a
ride to the pumpkin patch on draft
horses from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. week
days until Wednesday, Murray said.
The five largest pumpkins from the
Northwest Growers pumpkin contest
are also on display, he said, with one
pumpkin weighing 1,100 pounds.
Lone Pine Farms also has a play
ground and a free petting zoo for
children.
Detering Orchards, located about
5 miles north of Eugene in Harris
burg at 30946 Wyatt Drive, also has
a pumpkin patch. Cindy Dixon, a
clerk at the orchard, said it will offer
hay rides from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on
Saturday and free apple cobbler and
ice cream on Sunday. Children also
receive a free small pumpkin at the
orchard, she said.
Campbell Club, part of the Stu
dents’ Cooperative Association, is
hosting a Halloween party tomorrow
from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. Betsy Hunt, the
social coordinator, said The Sugar
beets, Kawaiea and Slipping
Glimpser will perform at the party,
along with several DJs. The party will
be held at the Campbell Club, located
at 1670 Alder St., and the cover is $6
with costume, $8 without.
Courtney Sweet is a freelance reporter
for the Oregon Daily Emerald.