Reconsider trick or treat around square

When my husband and I decided to raise our kids in small-town, rural Texas, we did it in part for the community. It's nice to see friendly, familiar faces where you shop, live and play. So it was with a great deal of disappointment that I learned the Courtyard Square Association canceled trick or treat around the square this year. I guess you could say it's "just" Halloween. Explain that to my kids, though!

My 10, 7 and 3-year-old kids spend months looking forward to Halloween. In their lives, planning costumes and getting together with friends to march around the square and "see and be seen" is a big deal. We do it every year. They're so disappointed we won't be able to continue our Halloween tradition this year. I'm sad my 1-year-old won't even have the opportunity to experience what my older kids have the last few years.

So maybe it isn't "just" Halloween after all. It's an opportunity for families to come together, for our community to come together and to build traditions. It's also an opportunity for local businesses to give back to the community that supports them throughout the rest of the year.

I've been told there will be other events in Lampasas on Halloween, but nothing centralized like trick or treat around the square that encourages the whole community to turn out in one place.

Since we live rural outside of Lampasas proper, my kids don't have a neighborhood to trick-or-treat in. It's trick-or-treating around town square or nothing.

I don't want to have to leave the community I live in, but it looks like we'll have to this year to be able to keep up our trick-or-treating tradition. When we head out of Lampasas to go trick-or-treating around the town square of another little town, we'll be taking our tax revenue money with us. We generally buy the kids snacks beforehand and eat out for dinner after. It sure changes my opinion of downtown businesses, as well.

I'd like the Courtyard Square Association to reconsider the cancellation of Lampasas' trick or treat around the square. I encourage other members of the community to contact Jim Rutland of the Courtyard Square Association and let him know that trick-ortreating around the square is something our community will miss.

Elizabeth Stephens

Kempner