The Town of Carrollton will be celebrating Halloween on Friday, October 31. Fears that home football game traffic would create safety problems for children walking on the streets have proved to be unfounded. There are no high school football home games scheduled for October 31!
Halloween is so much a part of our culture today that it’s hard to think back to its origin. It began with a Celtic festival that marked the end of the harvest. As Christianity spread, November 1st became All Saints' Day, and October 31st was known as All Hallows' Eve. European immigrants, particularly from Ireland and England during the Great Famine of the 1840s, brought their pagan and Christian customs to America. Their customs merged with American culture to form our modern Halloween.
Each stage of Halloween’s evolution has added something to today’s traditions. The Celts wore animal skins and heads, which may have led to the tradition of Halloween costumes.
From the 8th century Catholic Church we get the name Halloween.
The medieval English practice of "souling," where people offered prayers for the dead in exchange for soul cakes, evolved into trick-or-treating.
Immigrants found American pumpkins to be to be much easier to than carving turnips as their ancestors had done.
By the early 20th century, Halloween became a community-focused holiday featuring festivals, parades, and trick-or-treating.
To stay safe this Halloween, trick-or-treaters should wear bright, reflective costumes and carry flashlights, stick to familiar, well-lit areas, and never go into a stranger's home or car. Motorists should slow down and be alert for pedestrians, especially children. Inspect all candy before eating, use battery-operated lights instead of candles in pumpkins, and remember the "stop, drop, and roll" procedure for costumes.
Organizations who would like to set up on the courthouse square for trick-or-treaters are welcome to do so. Parents enjoy the shorter trick-or-treat time this provides. The children enjoy the abundance of candy they receive. And the organization members who don’t live in a town enjoy getting to a part of this popular event. We just ask that you encourage safety with trick-or-treaters and that you clean up the area before you leave.
Happy Halloween!
