New Year's day is January 1st and Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday in November, but when it comes to Halloween, not every community celebrates on October 31st. That difference is stirring controversy in Davenport, where for decades, it has hosted a parade on Halloween night and trick-or-treaters on October 30th.
Now, the Davenport City Council has been asked to consider a change. One concern raised by residents is that children from other communities have been coming to Davenport to get more than one night of treats. Davenport Mayor Bill Gluba says the traditional Halloween parade has been held on October 31st since 1946, but for some reason this year, city officials are getting a lot of public input.
"Halloween is a major subject," says Davenport Alderman Gene Meeker. "We've been getting emails from people saying all the way from dropping it all together, because for kids it's a health issue, the sweets and going out after dark, to cutting the hours back from three hours to two hours, cutting the nights or changing the nights so we synch up with the other communities, as well," Meeker added.
Alderman anticipate there will be deep discussion on the subject at this week's meeting. Not only do they plan to talk about whether to change the date for trick-or-treating, but also whether to change the guidelines for the Halloween parade. In this hotly contested election cycle, the city will consider whether to allow political candidates in the parade.
The meeting will be held at Davenport City Council chambers at 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 10.
