Chalk it up as another casualty of COVID-19.  Some downtown Twin Falls merchants planned to open their doors for trick-or-treaters this Saturday.  I was told by a member of the City Council there had even been a special permit issued.  The shops planned on sanitizing the area and working to alleviate any concerns parents had about safety.  Then came the latest announcement from Governor Brad Little. 

we’ve suddenly got a joyless community for a great many children

The plug got pulled on the Twin Falls event.  It joins the larger Halloween party at the College of Southern Idaho Expo Center in being scrapped this year.  Add in all the fairs cancelled or scaled back and the decision to eliminate Christmas in the Nighttime Sky and we’ve suddenly got a joyless community for a great many children.

There are a few strong memories I’ve got about Halloween.  Perhaps the strongest is from the second grade.  I was laid low by chicken pox and didn’t get out of isolation for trick-or-treating.  Driving to work this morning I got to thinking about the local kids and what they’ll remember 50 years from now.  2020 is going to have a lot of disappointments.

All my grandparents survived two world wars and the 1918 pandemic.  They didn’t speak much about the latter.  Maybe it was because they lost family members in battle and both grandmothers lost babies during childbirth.  Life, just a century ago, was very harsh.  We’d grown to believe we had long ago put aside pandemics and catastrophes.  This year is a reminder just how thin is the line between modern civilization and tragedy.  On a positive note, a lot of children are going to grow up and realize they can stand up to adversity.  Maybe the only good thing to come out of 2020.

 

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