Trick-or-Treating Called Off; Food, Football on Friday

Due to safety concerns, officials have called off trick-or-treating on Main Street, which was to have been held Nov. 5 after the Halloween tradition was canceled due to the October storm.

"After inspecting the area and speaking with individuals, as optomistic and anxious as I was to have Main Street Halloween on Saturday, November 5th, I'm afraid for safety and town resource purposes, Halloween will take a pass this year," . "I know this disappoints many, myself included, but in good conscience there are low hanging electrical lines near sidewalks and across Main Street properties, as well as downed trees that create significant night time hazards. I think we all hoped otherwise. In addition, having 1000-3000 children on Main Street requires additional police assistance. The police resources are taxed already by the cleanup and power restoration."

While some residents have asked for permission to use a town parking lot in which to run a tailgate car trick-or-treating event this weekend, town officials during an Emergency Operations Center meeting did not appear open to the possibility in light of the widespread power outages and blocked roadways that remain in town.

Meanwhile, school officials, with support from the town, are hosting a cookout at Newtown High School Friday at 5:30 p.m., with a football game to be held afterwards under the lights between the Nighthawks and Bethel Wildcats at 7 p.m.

The cookout, which Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson and culinary instructor Brian Neumeyer are organizing, will be free for all residents affected by the outage and held by the Snack Shack at Blue and Gold Stadium.

School officials also have decided to keep to their Friday night lights football schedule, saying they wanted to maintain as much a sense of normalcy for students as possible.

While the cookout is free, the game, which normally comes with an entry fee, costs $5 for adults and $3 for students and senior citizens.

The Nighthawks have been 6-1 this season while the Wildcats are 5-2. The game is expected to start at 7 p.m. at which time the school's booster club will take over the Snack Shack. Seniors also will be honored at the event.

Correction: The time of the cookout is at 5:30 p.m. and the game carries with it an entry fee. An earlier version of this article was incorrect in the time and did not have the fee listed.