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Be safe, trick-or-treaters

We love Halloween.

The costumes, the candy, the decorations, the element of fun fear. All of it.

But the holiday can be dangerous — you have hordes of kiddos walking around after dark, crossing streets, with traffic still moving around them — if parents, kiddos, and those handing out Halloween candy don’t take the right precautions.

The American Red Cross offers some safety tips.

∫ Make sure trick-or-treaters can be see and be seen by using face paint instead of masks, which can obscure vision, and by dressing them in light-colored clothing or adding reflective tape to costumes. Trick-or-treaters also should carry flashlights.

∫ Parents should travel with younger children and should know where older children going alone plan to trick-or-treat.

∫ Trick-or-treaters need to be cautious around dogs in the neighborhood, who might react unpredictably to ghouls and goblins traveling around in costume.

∫ Walk, don’t run when trick-or-treating.

∫ Trick-or-treaters should walk on sidewalks, not in the street, and use crosswalks when crossing the street, looking both ways before they cross.

∫ A grown-up should check candy before trick-or-treaters eat their bounty, removing any loose candy or choking hazards.

The Red Cross says those welcoming trick-or-treaters should make sure their walkways and porches are well-lit and sweep leaves from their sidewalks to remove any slipping or tripping hazards.

And the Red Cross urges motorists to use extra caution on Halloween night because trick-or-treaters may suddenly enter the roadway while forgetting to look both ways.

The holiday is a great time to celebrate autumn and welcome the coming winter and have a lot of fun, but it has to be done safely.

Be safe, trick-or-treaters and candy-hander-outers, so we all can enjoy the holiday.

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