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Old 09-20-2011, 09:58 AM
 
Location: From TX to VA
8,578 posts, read 7,057,407 times
Reputation: 8175

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We live in Virginia Beach. There is a city ordinance that prohibits anyone over the age of 12 from 'trick-or-treating'. And those that are allowed to participate have to stop by a certain time. I think it's 8pm, but I'm not sure. Until moving up here, Halloween used to be my favorite time of year. Now it's pretty lame. There's no point in decorating or anything else other than giving out candy.

When I lived in Texas, we'd go all out for Halloween. We had the house and yard decorated, had scary props that we made ourselves, had eerie, dark winding paths with music, fog and all kinds of special effects for folks to experience. We used to have kids (and their parents!) waiting in double lines just to go through it. Each year, we had over 300 kids go through our setup. It was so much fun to scare the teens who were always acting so brave. We'd tone it way down for little ones, to the point that we often would turn on all the lights and remove our masks so they could see everything and wouldn't be afraid. Best of all, it was great to have parents and kids come back by the house the days after Halloween to tell us how 'cool' it was and how much fun they had. That made it all worth it. Sigh...it was wonderful.

OK, now that I've gone down memory lane... can anyone explain to me the reasoning behind this law? I've asked down at City Hall, but no one could answer my question. They would only say that "it's a city ordinance". Well, I figured that much out all by myself. I just wondered what brought it about. I guess I have a old fool's pipe dream of working to change the ordinance, but I can't do that if I don't know what they were concerned about in the first place. Can anyone enlighten me? Does anyone know if it's like this all over Hampton Roads? Or is it just Virginia Beach?

Last edited by LilyLady; 09-20-2011 at 10:00 AM.. Reason: Added a sentence
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Old 09-20-2011, 12:10 PM
 
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All of the cities have similar rules if I remember correctly, it is not a new ordinance it has been that way for years now. Search the archives on the pilot there are back stories about it somewhere.

Im pretty sure this all came about as a reaction to "bag snatching" incidents, fights, vandalism, and people getting tired of older kids, not even in costume, coming to their house with a pillow case and cussing at them if they didn't give them candy. Too many parents letting their kids run wild without supervision I guess. Don't quote me on that, but I remember all those things becoming issues back before these rules went into effect.

You can still have fun with it, but I agree that it isn't like it used to be.
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Old 09-20-2011, 02:35 PM
 
Location: From TX to VA
8,578 posts, read 7,057,407 times
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UHgrad, thanks for the information. This will be my third Halloween since moving up here. I just wondered why it was lame. I guess now I know. What a shame.

Thanks again.... Happy Halloween anyway~
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Old 09-21-2011, 07:48 AM
 
1,209 posts, read 2,613,938 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LilyLady View Post
UHgrad, thanks for the information. This will be my third Halloween since moving up here. I just wondered why it was lame. I guess now I know. What a shame.

Thanks again.... Happy Halloween anyway~
Hunt Club farm is a lot of fun, Town Center will do something, and certain neighborhoods still do community block parties etc... Just gotta know where to go.
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Old 09-22-2011, 01:43 PM
 
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I would be perfectly happy if Halloween went until 10 or 11pm, frankly. But realistically, you cannot sanction that and expect to have no problems with older kids and vandalism. Some people simply go to bed early, and they have every right to not be disturbed.

I've been "doing up" my garage, for Halloween, for 12 years now. I generally have to take the day off, as it is such an involved process to set everything up. My son stopped trick-or-treating when he was 11, as he decided that staying home and planning out the "spooktacular" was more fun. He and about 4 to 6 of his buddies, all get into costume, (they generally show up right after school when it falls on a weekday) and plot the evenings's show. They have it all planned out, right down to who stands (or lays) where....and hand signals...everything. And yes, we have the long lines, and a driveway full of people milling around. The boys have scared the crap out of the trick-or-treeters, and the kids all just love it. And I have a blast myself. I don't care that it only goes unitl 8, but it would surely make it more fun to have it go longer. This year, everything changes. My son is away at college, and I am as yet undecided if I can pull it off by myself. The neighborhood kids would be so sad if I didn't do it....but man it just won't be the same without my boy and his "posse" there. I dunno....not sure what I am going to do yet. But Happy Haunting to everyone!

OH, and I don't care about the ages of the kids that come by, but they damn well better be in costume. I have a long-standing rule - no tricks (costumes), no treats. And everyone knows it.
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Old 09-22-2011, 06:01 PM
 
14 posts, read 34,934 times
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i also do not like this age limit. where i raised my family my kids were able to T or T till they chose to quit. nothing a teen likes more than candy... what is the harm in them going out and getting some? we never had unrulely teens, either. well, not at T or T hours. they did come out later in the night for mischief.
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Old 09-25-2011, 11:11 AM
 
Location: From TX to VA
8,578 posts, read 7,057,407 times
Reputation: 8175
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChessieMom View Post
I would be perfectly happy if Halloween went until 10 or 11pm, frankly. But realistically, you cannot sanction that and expect to have no problems with older kids and vandalism. Some people simply go to bed early, and they have every right to not be disturbed.

I've been "doing up" my garage, for Halloween, for 12 years now. I generally have to take the day off, as it is such an involved process to set everything up. My son stopped trick-or-treating when he was 11, as he decided that staying home and planning out the "spooktacular" was more fun. He and about 4 to 6 of his buddies, all get into costume, (they generally show up right after school when it falls on a weekday) and plot the evenings's show. They have it all planned out, right down to who stands (or lays) where....and hand signals...everything. And yes, we have the long lines, and a driveway full of people milling around. The boys have scared the crap out of the trick-or-treeters, and the kids all just love it. And I have a blast myself. I don't care that it only goes unitl 8, but it would surely make it more fun to have it go longer. This year, everything changes. My son is away at college, and I am as yet undecided if I can pull it off by myself. The neighborhood kids would be so sad if I didn't do it....but man it just won't be the same without my boy and his "posse" there. I dunno....not sure what I am going to do yet. But Happy Haunting to everyone!

OH, and I don't care about the ages of the kids that come by, but they damn well better be in costume. I have a long-standing rule - no tricks (costumes), no treats. And everyone knows it.
Your house sounds like such fun!
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Old 09-25-2011, 11:17 AM
 
Location: Everywhere and Nowhere
14,129 posts, read 31,184,179 times
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There are lots of silly laws that aren't enforced. Has anyone ever been arrested for it? Seems to me if you were, the DA would drop the charges since it would likely be laughed out of court as a violation of your constitutional rights.
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Old 09-25-2011, 11:34 AM
 
Location: From TX to VA
8,578 posts, read 7,057,407 times
Reputation: 8175
Quote:
Originally Posted by CAVA1990 View Post
There are lots of silly laws that aren't enforced. Has anyone ever been arrested for it? Seems to me if you were, the DA would drop the charges since it would likely be laughed out of court as a violation of your constitutional rights.
I have no idea if anyone has been cited for this or not. We've been here just a few years and it's been in effect since before we moved here. I would think that a person would just be cited for violation of a city ordinance instead of an arrest... but what do I know?
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Old 09-26-2011, 01:16 AM
 
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I know its sad right? I am from Florida, and I have a trick or treating thing I used to do in memory of my aunt who dressed up and went trick or treating with us until she passed away from cancer. And tho I am 30 now I still enjoy it. But here in Virginia I can't go. It really sucks. There are many things I DON'T like about Virginia. I can't wait to be able to leave. But to be honest I hate it so much here because I am a country girl STUCK in the BLACK HOLE that is Hampton Roads! I can't see the stars at night, there is TO much traffic, the people are not as nice in a city setting as they are in the country (needed a jump for my car the other day and my husband tried to wave people down for 30 min before getting help, in my home town within 2 min of lifting my hood someone would of asked if we needed help) , I would rather scoop my eyes out with a spoon as someone sets me on fire then live here, but alas I love my husband and he is stationed here and tho he has offered to send me back to Florida until we can leave this hell hole I don't want to leave him *sigh*
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