SerpApi.Org
Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, but the Centre Region Council of Governments will likely move the region’s trick-or-treat night up due to safety concerns around local sporting events.
It was shared in the agenda for the CRCOG Executive Committee meeting Tuesday that Centre Region police chiefs recommended moving the trick-or-treat night to Thursday, Oct. 29, from 6-8 p.m. The backup, inclement weather date would be Friday, Oct. 30.
According to the agenda, the date was recommended to avoid the safety concerns that come with State College’s home football game against the Harrisburg Cougars on Friday, Oct. 30 and a home Penn State football game against the Purdue Boilermakers on Halloween. The time of that game at Beaver Stadium has not yet been announced.
“The primary thing that comes to our minds when suggesting a date is the safety of all members of our community,” Patton Township Police Chief Tyler Jolley wrote in an email Wednesday. “We obviously see a significant impact in traffic from visitors coming to our area to enjoy the football game weekend. ... The police departments consider staffing and resource allocation when we make our date suggestion to ensure everyone has an enjoyable and safe evening”
Jolley added that the Centre Region police chiefs’ recommendation is “consistent with past practice,” when trick-or-treat nights have been moved up due to home Penn State football games.
The last time that the Centre Region moved up trick-or-treat night to the Thursday before Halloween was in 2020, to avoid conflict with a Penn State home game against Ohio State, but the festivities were pushed back to Sunday, Nov. 1 that year due to inclement weather.
There are six municipalities covered by the CRCOG - State College Borough and College, Harris, Halfmoon, Ferguson and Patton townships, though Halfmoon did not change their trick-or-treat date in 2020.
While the proposed date was passed unanimously Monday as part of the meeting’s consent agenda, it still has to gain the final approval of the CRCOG’s General Forum, which will vote on the matter at their meeting at 7 p.m. on Monday, July 27. The meeting will be held at the council’s 2643 Gateway Drive building.
