Cleburne Interim Police Chief Amy Knoll and other city officials wish everyone a happy Halloween, but urge residents to exercise care and caution.
“We’ll have officers out in force Wednesday to make sure everything goes OK,” Knoll said. “We’re also sending some of our officers around to some of the trunk or treat events throughout the city to spend time with kids and visit with residents.”
Knoll offered the following safety tips:
• A parent or guardian should accompany children and carry a flashlight.
• Trick-or-treaters should walk in the direction of traffic, stay to the sidewalk where possible, avoid walking in the middle of the road and not take shortcuts through alleys or backyards.
• Parents should set a specific time limit on trick-or-treating and know when to expect their children home.
• Keep pets inside the house or another safe place on Halloween night.
• Children should walk, not run, and be on the lookout for traffic.
• Costumes should be made of light colored fireproof material and contain reflective or glow-in-the-dark attachments.
• Children should never enter a stranger’s home or vehicle for a treat.
• Children should avoid wearing eye makeup or masks that may affect their vision.
• Children should avoid carrying replica guns or swords that may be mistaken for the real thing.
• Parents should inspect all treats before allowing children to eat them and homeowners should only distribute commercially wrapped candy.
• Be sure your children know your cellphone number in case they get lost or separated.
• Homeowners should make sure walkways leading to their door are obstruction free.
• Jack O’ Lanterns should be lit with a glow stick instead of a candle.
• Motorists should drive slowly and cautiously and be on the lookout for children, exercise care when exiting or entering driveways and avoid talking on their cellphone.
Cleburne Environmental Health Officer Teresa Richardson offered the following tips when preparing treats for Halloween parties:
• When making treats, don’t taste dough and batters that contain uncooked eggs.
• Keep all perishable foods chilled until serving time.
• Unpasteurized juice or cider can contain harmful bacteria such as Salmonella. To stay safe, always serve pasteurized products at your parties.
For a suitably spooky sound track to Halloween, tune into Scream Radio — Sirius 123, XM 142 — for hair-raising songs, stories and sounds.
Sirius XM Book Radio, Channel 80, provides non-stop readings of scary stories through Halloween while “The Golden Age of Halloween” on Sirius XM Radio Classics, Channel 82, broadcasts vintage holiday-themed radios shows starring Lucille Ball, Jack Benny, Abbott & Costello and Fibber McGee and Molly among others as well as a recording of a seance reaching out to the ghost of Harry Houdini recorded Halloween night 1936.
