COVID-19

Special Topic: Halloween

Recommendations and Reminders for Supporting a Safe Halloween from Sherborn’s COVID-19 Response Team

We ask that whatever residents choose to do on Halloween:

• As a community we hold ourselves accountable to behavior that maintains a safe and respectful Halloween for all.
• We share the common goal of not spreading the virus and thus keeping schools open!!

ANY time you are in public or gathering with people outside your household, and especially on Halloween Night please:

• Wear a (protective) Mask, Watch your Distance, Wash your Hands
• Outdoors is far better than indoors

ALL AGES: At-Home Alternatives to Traditional Door-to-Door Trick-or-Treating

• Personal Backyard Scavenger Hunt
• Glow-in-the-Dark Egg Hunt
• Outdoor Spooky Movie Night - socially distanced, families bring their own chairs and snacks
• Boo Bags - Fill a Boo Bag with fun treats and deliver it anonymously to someone's doorstep! It can be passed forward by creating a Boo Bag for someone else. Stores like CVS and Target are offering Boo Bags with instructions, or you can create your own!
• Use this link to access the CDC website for helpful tips and information - https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/holidays.html

YOUNGER CHILDREN

Sherborn Fire and Rescue Team plans to visit neighborhoods with their fire trucks.  Details will be shared on the Town Website.

PINE HILL STUDENTS (Preschool - Grade 5)

• Parents are encouraged to prepare for a Halloween night at home.
• If the family is going out to trick-or-treat, parents are encouraged to have their families trick-or-treat in their own neighborhood only.  Families not in neighborhoods are encouraged to go to the closest neighborhood.
• Parents please accompany children to ensure at all times masks are worn, 6 feet of distancing, and hand sanitizer is used as needed.
• Families are encouraged to trick-or-treat between the hours of 5 and 7 p.m.

STUDENTS GRADES 6 AND ABOVE

• Let’s be honest, this is a tricky age to impose limits on this night.
• If your middle-high school child(ren) are going out, please plan to supervise their activity.
• You can help your child(ren) be accountable for wearing a mask, maintaining distance, and following the special guidelines by accompanying them (maybe waiting at the top of the street) or frequently checking in.
• For many children, just knowing that an adult is paying attention is enough.
• Alternatives to trick-or-treat might be creating an age appropriate scavenger hunt, stay-up-all-night movie night, a friend or two over (distanced, masks as necessary).

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR DISTRIBUTING CANDY FROM YOUR HOME

• Prior to touching any candy, wash your hands.
• Prepare treat bags in advance, rather than using a communal bowl or handing candy to children.  Or place candy separated on a table or tray.
• Wear a protective (cloth) mask.
• Place treat bags or candy on a table, on the  porch, or on the front step so children may take one while maintaining a distance.

RECOMMENDATIONS IF YOU CHOOSE NOT TO DISTRIBUTE CANDY FROM YOUR HOME

As a community, we understand and respect that many residents will not be giving out candy this year.  We recommend all exterior lights be turned off.

WHAT YOU MIGHT FIND DIFFERENT THIS YEAR

• Fewer homes offering candy.  Please be respectful of this personal choice.
• Police officers in neighborhoods
• Some roads (e.g., Ivy Lane) will have temporary barricades.
• In order to reduce density, friends and neighbors from surrounding towns are asked to stay within their own communities this year.