ESTERO, Fla. — Halloween is just days away, but like many other things this year, the pandemic is changing the way many will celebrate All Hallows Eve.
While the Center for Disease Control and Prevention had labeled traditional door-to-door trick-or-treating high risk, one Estero family says they want to give kids some sense of normalcy, but they do want to do it as safely as possible.
This year, Tim and Dorothy Bourke will be handing out candy through a homemade candy slide.
“We needed to do something for the kids because they shouldn’t have to miss Halloween after everything else that has gone on with COVID,” said Tim Bourke.
Wanting to keep the Halloween spirit alive, Tim got to work constructing the slide made of PVC pipes and some decorations.
Bourke says all together it cost him about $70 and took him about ten days to make.
“It allows for social distancing, and the kids still get their candy,” said Dorothy Bourke.
“We plan on wearing our masks, wearing our gloves.”
The candy slide will be placed by the curb, where Tim and Dorothy will be ready with hundreds of candy bars.
“We give out the big candy bars; that’s why the tube had to be that big and this high to give the candy some momentum to get to the spiderweb basket,” said Tim Bourke.
While using a candy slide is not something they could have ever imagined before, Dorothy says it’s something they might continue to use from now on.
“It’s fun, the kids will think it’s cool, that’s the biggest thing, the kids will think it’s cool,” said Dorothy Bourke.
The CDC says if people plan to trick-or-treat, they should avoid direct contact and give out treats outdoors.
