Silver Valley trick-or-treating a go

City officials from across the Silver Valley confirmed with the News-Press on Thursday that trick-or-treating is still set to occur on Halloween this year.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, rumors have swirled in the community since September that certain cities would cancel or put restrictions on the time-honored holiday tradition. As of Thursday, no Shoshone County city has implemented any such restrictions, other than broad spectrum mask resolutions (not specific to the holiday).

Kellogg is the only city in the Silver Valley that will have a mask requirement in place on the holiday. According to Section 1 in that resolution, “every person, shall, when in any indoor or outdoor public place, completely cover their nose and mouth, when members of the public are physically present for otherwise unprotected social interaction.”

In both the resolution and the ordinance, it is explained that anyone who fails to comply with the provisions of the order would be guilty of an infraction, punishable by a fine of $100.

The full text of that resolution can be found at the city of Kellogg's website.

If everything remains as is between now and Saturday night, trick-or-treating will be held from the traditional time of 6 to 7 p.m. across the Silver Valley.

Despite Panhandle Health District upgrading Shoshone County's COVID-19 Risk Level to "substantial" on Thursday, several community Halloween events are still set to occur on Saturday:

Wallace:

• Wallace Elks Lodge No. 331, located at 419 Cedar St., will be hosting its annual Halloween party/trunk-or-treat from 4 to 7 p.m. The building's capacity will be limited to 60 people. Kids games and free hotdogs available.

Smelterville:

• Silver Peak Espresso, located at 11 Main St., will be hosting their first trunk-or-treat/costume contest from 4 to 8 p.m. Shoshone County Fire District No. 2 will be on hand with fire trucks.

Pinehurst:

• Real Life Ministries, located at 708 W. Division St., will be hosting a drive-through trunk-or-treat from 6 to 8 p.m.

Child costume contest submissions must be sent to the Real Life Ministries Facebook page by 5:30 p.m. Winners will be announced online.

• Blondie's Hair Salon, located at 207 S. Division St., will be hosting a trunk-or-treat event starting at 6 p.m.

Previously advertised events, such as Silver Mountain Resort's trunk-or-treat event and Mullan's Halloween Carnival, have been canceled.

The Centers for Disease Control released its guidelines for celebrating Halloween this year, cataloging the holiday’s activities into three categories: low risk, moderate risk and high risk.

Those high-risk activities include traditional door-to-door trick-or-treating, attending crowded costume parties or maneuvering through indoor haunted houses. (The more intense and powerful the scream, the CDC warns, the further COVID-19 is likely to spread.)

The CDC considers “one-way trick-or-treating” — leaving out individually-wrapped and sanitized goodie bags on porches or driveways — a moderate risk, along with small, open-air get-togethers with masked-up guests practicing social distancing. Pumpkin patches, outdoor movie nights and outdoor one-way haunted forests are also considered moderate risks.

Low-risk activities, according to the CDC, include family and neighborhood pumpkin carving contests, virtual costume contests and family Halloween movie nights.

Katherine Hoyer, public information officer for Panhandle Health District, said people, with a little creativity, can still enjoy the holiday safely, but that the desire to dismiss the dangers after a long summer of COVID — even for one night — can be disastrous.

“It’s understandable that some are feeling burnout or pandemic fatigue,” Hoyer said, “as we’ve been living with this pandemic for months now, and there is still no definitive end. The most important thing is not to give up. Continue to practice the precautions and stick to reliable, trustworthy sources for information.”

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Craig Northrup with the Coeur d'Alene Press contributed to this article.