The COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t quite crushed Macon County’s spooky spirit this Halloween season.
Every year, Bidwell Street plays host to one of the biggest trick-or-treating celebrations in Western North Carolina. The elaborate displays have drawn more than 2,000 trick-or-treaters in past years. There may not be as many this year, but Bidwell residents aren’t about to disappoint.
Skeletons, ghosts and the undead are already in place, ready to frighten visitors, and many residents of the street say they’ll be handing out candy just like they always have.
“It’s all private owners here, so it’s really up to our discretion,” Bidwell Street resident Andrew Raby said. “If a house is decorated, it looks like you’re getting some candy.”
The status of Macon County’s Halloween in the Park was up in the air at press time as the county was looking for more businesses to participate. Check with the county’s parks and recreation department at 828-349-2090.
Some churches will also be keeping up Halloween traditions by hosting trunk-or treats in their parking lots. At Pine Grove Baptist Church, Tim Hogsed said the goal is always to offer families a safe way to enjoy the holiday, and while this year is going to be a lot stricter on disease-preventative measures, that basic sentiment is still guiding the organizers.
“We’ll be giving everybody gloves and, of course, everyone will be wearing a mask,” Hogsed said. “For the kids, with everything that’s been cancelled this year, we wanted to give them a chance to do something like this in a controlled environment.”
There are even more low-contact options for celebrating the season in Franklin. The Macon County Public Library is teaming up with several downtown businesses for a Halloween scavenger through Saturday Oct. 31. During the daylight hours of Halloween, families can pick up a list at the library and then tour the Main Street area to see which businesses have scavenger hunt signs in the window. Those who find all the signs will get a goodie bag from the library staff and, if they so choose, they can do it all without leaving their cars.
“It’s just going to be in the windows, so they can walk by or drive by without having to go inside,” library assistant Kerri Arbuthnot said. “The businesses were happy to support it. We’re very thankful for all of them.”
Merchants on Main Street are going a long way to make sure that kids get to celebrate Halloween as much as possible this year. On Halloween, Main Street will be closed from 4-7 p.m. so trick-or-treaters can go door to door and get candy from merchants (or non-edible treats from 3-4 p.m. for those with food allergies as part of the Teal Pumpkin Project). Franklin Town Council approved the street closing at its last meeting to make sure that kids could celebrate the season in safety.
“It allows more social distance space,” council member Dinah Mashburn said. “We’re not having PumpkinFest, and we close down the street for the whole day [for PumpkinFest]. For a few hours, that would be much safer.”
Streets of Franklin president Gwen Taylor hopes Halloween is going to be an important pick-me-up for downtown business owners, both because it will help remind the public that they’re still there after having had to close for several months earlier this year and because they’re still missing out on the social interactions that they used to enjoy.
“The merchants have been hit so hard,” Taylor said. “If we’re giving back, that’s going to help us in the months that we need for our local folks to come downtown.”