Tricky treat: Alberta town moves Halloween to Saturday from Sunday

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This article was published 29/10/2010 (5426 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

EDMONTON – Dracula, make the change on your calendar.

Frankenstein, you better update your itinerary.

Sexy nurse, your Sunday shift has been moved up.

Halloween will be happening a day early in some Alberta towns this year.

Oct. 31 falls on Sunday and, every time that happens, a handful of communities in southern Alberta approve the rescheduling of observances to Saturday the 30th.

Communities such as Raymond, Cardston and Magrath, where there are sizable Mormon populations, all make the move.

Raymond Mayor George Bohne says the town has moved every Halloween on Sunday to Saturday for the last century and they’ve never heard a negative word.

“The bottom line is tradition,” Bohne says.

“We are basically a faith-based community. We have many different religions. We still close down on Sundays. We don’t have Sunday shopping. We keep Sundays reserved for family activities.”

That’s not to say that Halloween isn’t family friendly, Bohne says.

“Halloween is a family-fun activity with little kids all out trick-or-treating,” he says. “It’s just a family thing. They like to stay home on Sundays and get out the rest of the week.”

Raymond town council actually passes a resolution making the move official. They do the same thing with holidays such as Canada Day when they fall on a Sunday.

While perhaps a novel idea to Canadians, the debate about moving Halloween to Saturday when it falls on a Sunday rages in several communities south of the border.

Towns and counties in states such as Georgia, Oklahoma and Utah make the change citing religious reasons.

But not every community makes the move with religion in mind.

Some cite the convenience of trick-or-treating on a non-school night. Others say it makes it easier to party a little harder.

In Jacksonville, Fla., however, a councillor’s motion to have Halloween moved to Saturday was recently withdrawn when, among other things, it was pointed out that it would conflict with the Florida-Georgia university football game.

Bohne says the move to Saturday from Sunday works for Raymond and he doesn’t anticipate things changing in the future.

“Our families are all inclusive. We won’t turn anybody away from the doors if, for some reason they chose to go on Sundays — on the traditional day — as opposed to the day we’ve set.

“But by and large, we’ve had almost 100 per cent co-operation.”