Bay Joins Neighbors in Celebrating Halloween Early

Does it really feel like Halloween in the daylight hours on the Sunday before the actual holiday?

In the North Shore, the answer is slowly becoming "yes," as municipal leaders are generally guided by a 10-year non-binding agreement adopted by Milwaukee County municipal leaders last year. The resolution calls for municipalities to set trick-or-treat hours for 1 to 4 p.m. on the Sunday before Halloween.

Whitefish Bay trustees maintained the Sunday trick-or-treating tradition at Monday night's Village Board meeting by setting hours from 4 to 6 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 30.

On a motion from Trustee Kevin Buckley, the board briefly adopted new trick-or-treat hours of 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Halloween — which falls on Monday. Trustee Jay Miller was one of the proponents of the new hours.

"Most of the free world recognizes Halloween as something that goes on at night, and I don't think there's anything to suggest that this creates more danger for kids," Miller said.

But Village President Julie Siegel made a motion to reconsider that vote and made an amendment to set the hours back to the proposed 4 to 6 p.m. on Oct. 30. Those times were approved on a 5-2 vote.

“I’d like to have it consistent with all of the municipalities in the neighborhood,” she said.

All other North Shore communities are staying with the agreement, too: Shorewood, Fox Point and Glendale all hunt for candy from 1 to 4 p.m. Oct. 30; Mequon from 4 to 7 p.m.; and Bayside from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m.