Old Mill trick-or-treating canceled; Bend parent has alternative for Halloween fun

(Update: adding video, comments from Bend residents)

BEND, Ore (KTVZ) -- As we get into the spooky season, many parents are worried about the pandemic and trick-or-treating.

However, some Central Oregon parents are getting creative for Halloween, striving to give their kids a fun, more regular experience.

People who visit Andrea Newcomb's "yard haunt" will be able to have an authentic Halloween time, while hopefully staying safe as well.

Newcomb is setting up a sort of outdoor haunted house in northeast Bend for children and families to get a good Halloween spook, and some candy, while staying safe.

"It is kind of stepping up to answer just a lot of the sadness and dismay around the canceling of Halloween due to COVID," she told NewsChannel21 on Tuesday.

To make her yard haunt work, Newcomb is enforcing safety guidelines. Everyone has to wear a mask and stay at least six feet away from everyone else at all times.

And there won't be any of the typical bowls of candy.

"We will have a couple of tables set out that will have pieces set up so you grab your one,” she said. “And probably a sign or somebody standing there to remind people to take just one."

Under the CDC’s recently released Halloween guidance, traditional trick-or-treating and haunted houses are noted as higher-risk activities.

Rocky Miner, whose grandchildren would have trick-or-treated this year, said, "I would be pretty cautious and hesitant on having them go door to door, like our old-time Halloween."

Bend resident Spencer Fuller added, "It's just kind of a weird line to walk, so we probably won't be putting out candy."

A spokesperson from the Old Mill District said stores there will not hold their traditional trick-or-treating festivities on Halloween.

But traditional trick-or-treating will be a big loss to many children in what's already a tough year.

"It's that trick-or-treat, being able to say it and being able to say like, 'Oh, my gosh, I love your costume!" Fuller said.

And that's exactly what motivates Newcomb.

"It's a big holiday for a lot of people, so trying to say not to do it felt impossible, really," she said.

Some of the CDC's lower-risk activities include holding a virtual costume contest, or having a Halloween-related gathering with just your immediate family.