The short answer is no. Even though this year has been filled with its unpredictability, the beloved holiday of children is still here to enjoy! Unfortunately, the Ashburnham and Westminster towns both decided to cancel their trick-or-treat, however, the towns have plenty planned for the locals and kids to still be able to enjoy the holiday. 

The Ashburnham Police Department has shared that according to ashburnham-ma.gov that there is hope for trick or treating in only small neighborhoods, “as long as neighborhoods follow the CDC guidelines to help prevent the spread of Covid-19,” they wrote on their Facebook page, there still can be some trick-or-treating. 

Ashburnham also is holding fun events for the residents of their town to keep the local spirit alive for Halloween! The Stevens Memorial Library is holding a few events that they hope will have kids still be able to enjoy this year’s season. 

            Since Covid-19, the library has been offering many different Take & Make activity kits that are available for kids to pick up and take home. For the Halloween season, they have created a Pumpkin art aimed for young kids around the ages of 2-5 where they will supply a “sensory activity you can do at home,” according to their new post they shared on Facebook. 

            They are also holding different arts and crafts activities such as creating your own bat! Miss Claire, who works at the Library, is holding different Halloween themed storytimes and crafts which will be live-streamed on October 22nd & 29th from 10:30 am-11:15 am for kids to be able to live stream and watch virtually from home and follow along. 

There are also events being held for everyone to enjoy. Girl Scouts is holding an event on October 30th at 7 pm at the Winchester Park in Ashburnham. Drop off a carved or painted pumpkin from 4:30 pm-6 pm, to be put on display at the park! You can reclaim your pumpkin after the display 8:15 pm-9 pm. The library feels confident still about these drive through and pick up activities as they are still to be held as of October 29th. 

Oakmont is also helping out the community to support the kids who have had their Halloweens canceled. Peer leaders and our Student council are working together to create a drive through trick-or-treat at Overlook Middle School, J. R. Briggs Elementary, and Westminster Elementary. 

Students from Peer Leaders, Student Council, and NHS members are volunteering to help hand out the candy. These events will start at 7 pm at each school, members volunteering will bring buckets of candy up to your car. Social distancing will be enforced and gloves will be worn by all the volunteers to help keep things as safe as possible. “I think holding a drive by trick-or-treat is another step in making the best out of this difficult time,” says member of Peer leaders Allie Raymond. She hopes that this will be a good way to give back to the community as we deal with these difficult times. Due to the number of local cases rising this now has been further cancelled. The Oakmont school committee is working hard to find a way to get the kids who signed up their candy for halloween. 

The neighboring towns are also doing some fun things during the Halloween time. The Fitchburg Civic Center is holding a scary movie drive in on October 24th and 31st where they will Play Hocus Pocus! They will be held from 6 pm-8 pm at the Wallace Civic Center on John Fitch Highway. According to their Facebook page, about 401 people are interested in it. The parking lot will open at 5:15 pm and it’s first come first serve. They ask everyone to stay in their cars, and Halloween candy will be provided. As of October 29th, the Civic Center has taken down there many posts for the event, unfortunately, leading us to believe this activity has now been cancelled. 

Although these times are difficult and confusing, there’s still many fall activities you can do with your families, like apple picking and pumpkin picking at Red Apple Farm! Enjoy a scary movie night, and buy lots of Halloween candy! Although some events were cancelled due to the new and current rising covid cases, there are still some you can be able to enjoy. These times are hard but we’re all in it together, so we can all try to make the best of things together.