Halloween activities get an early start Friday with special activities on downtown Pratt, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks plus Pratt Community College.
Getting things started is the Trick or Treat Trail with downtown businesses featuring candy for trick-or-treaters plus a photo option at the Pratt Tribune office. The Tribune will run a photo page with some of the children’s photos.
Parents, guardians and children can travel the trail between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. collecting candy and enjoying the various businesses.
Some stores will feature employees in costume and some stores will have decorations.
Participating in the trail are: The Pratt Tribune, Sears, The Peoples Bank, SC Telcom, Uptown Café and Club D’Est, Bolen Office Supply, Sanders Real Estate, Dorman Veterinary clinic, Quality Laundry, Skaggs Ace Hardware, Peachey Insurance, Strong’s, Simply Southwest, First National Bank, Pratt Recreation Department, Pratt Family Dental and Brungardt’s.
Starting just an hour later at 3 p.m. and running until 5 p.m., also on Friday, the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks will hold a haunted house at the KDWP Education Center and Museum. The museum will be for children in the fifth grade and younger. Each child in costume will receive a bag full of goodies and glow sticks to use for trick-or-treating on Halloween, said Sheila Kimmis, KDWP senior administrative specialist.
The museum will be decorated and employees will be in costume to help with the atmosphere.
This is the first time the event has not been held on Halloween in the six years that KDWP has held the event.
Following the Trick-or-Treat Trail and the KDWP spook house, trick-or-treaters are invited to head out to Pratt Community College for the Beaver Spooktacular. Admission for the event is a can of food for the Pratt Christian Food Bank or pocket change that will go for Toys for Tots, said Misty Beck, coordinator of information services and student activities.
Students will help run the activities including face painting, Beaver Pond, ring toss, tennis ball toss, wiggle cars, dart balloon and other games.
The PCC event is trying to keep the event healthy this year so they will not have candy for the children but they will offer gifts, Beck said.
The PCC event will run from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. followed by a scrimmage between the blue and white wrestling squads. The public is invited to stay and watch the scrimmage.
As always trick-or-treating is designed to be a fun safe event but it takes work to make it happen, said Pratt County Sheriff Vernon Chinn.
An adult should always accompany children, especially small children when trick-or-treating. Children should only visit homes they know and parents should always inspect the goodies bags to make sure everything is safe before the children get the candy, Chinn said.
Drivers need to be extra cautious especially after sunset. Drivers should expect children to run into the street between cars or from dark areas.
Many costumes are dark and difficult to see so drivers need to be vigilant and drive slower than usual, Chinn said.
Because of the special community events, some children will be out trick-or-treating on both Friday and Saturday nights so it drivers need to be alert both nights.
Parents need to take special care the costumes do not interfere with walking and masks to not interfere with vision.
Halloween is for fun but it is also a time for safety.
“It’s certainly a time for many to have fun. Parents have to work hard so that what starts as fun ends up as fun,” Chinn said. “Safety is not an accident it’s a plan.”
Pratt, Kan. —
