Catherine Wilson had more than 1,000 trick-or-treaters come to her Swampscott home last year, which is located in one of the town’s kid friendliest areas. 

Her Elmwood Road home is at the corner of Monument Avenue, which is located near Town Hall and Hadley Elementary School. It’s not uncommon for children to be dropped off from other areas of the town to trick or treat in the residential neighborhood. 

With coronavirus restrictions putting a damper on traditional Halloween celebrations, Wilson knew she wanted to do her part to ensure the town’s children were able to experience at least one small part of the holiday. 

So, Wilson, 59, did some research online and came across a socially distanced method of distributing Halloween candy to trick-or-treaters. On Wednesday, she began setting up two large candy chutes that will extend from the front of her house and over her porch into its railings. 

After extending over her porch, the chutes will continue across her yard and onto the sidewalk, where trick-or-treaters will receive their candy. 

“It was the closest part of the porch to the sidewalk and it had good height so the candy would slide out the tube really easily,” said Wilson. “I had heard somewhere on the internet about candy chutes and I just thought about what I could do that would work. The stairs sort of work but you want to have a safe distance.” 

To make it more fun for the kids, Wilson spray-painted the chutes orange and added Halloween decorations to her house on Wednesday. 

“We’ve had to make a lot of adjustments to our daily living in order to keep each other safe and I thought with a little ingenuity we could allow the kids to celebrate a little bit of Halloween and still do it in a way that’s safe,” said Wilson. “(It’s) sort of where there’s a will, there’s a way.” 

Wilson is not alone in choosing to hand out treats through a candy slide this Halloween. With some sites calling the slide the invention that’s saving Halloween, the device typically consists of PVC piping, which allows for socially distanced trick-or-treating. 

Susan Conti, a Lynn resident and controller at Essex Media Group, which owns the Daily Item, is also distributing candy through a PVC slide this Halloween. 

Conti, who lives on B Street, another neighborhood that draws hundreds of trick-or-treaters, is teaming up with her neighbor to place a six-foot candy slide over a hedge and hand out candy at a safe distance away from trick-or-treaters. 

She said the plastic plumbing pipe comes in all different sizes, but she was able to get one that is large enough for candy to fit through. 

“I had over 250 kids last year — I gave out over 250 pieces of candy,” said Conti. “I’m assuming the kids will still come because they do love this neighborhood.” 

Amy Kesselman, a 43-year-old Lynn resident, said she has seen a lot of PVC candy chutes this year, but opted to go with another distribution method on Halloween. 

“We live in a single-family home in Lynn with two children and we are choosing to hand out (candy) for trick or treat,” said Kesselman. “We have a retaining wall in front of our house with a long flat top and I plan on just laying out all of our items down the entire retaining wall and when children approach, (I will let) them know to take a look at everything and then pick one to two things. 

“That way it remains socially distant and I don’t need to hand anything to anybody.” 

Going forward with handing out candy this year was a no-brainer for Kesselman, as Halloween is her family’s favorite holiday, she said, explaining that they usually go to Salem each year. 

“But with everything being canceled in Salem we decided that we could still hand out candy and be safe and socially distant,” said Kesselman. “We love Halloween and after putting some thought into it, we decided we could spread things out across our long retaining wall and that way we don’t need to physically interact with any of the children. We can sit on our upper staircase and just replenish items as needed.” 

Keith Sylvia, a Lynn resident who lives in the Diamond District, said he and his neighbors have decided to hand out candy on their street on Grosvenor Park after discussing the matter. 

“We will be outside (with) masks and gloves worn,” said Sylvia, 56. “We believe as we put safety precautions into place for children, they should be allowed to enjoy a few hours of fun.” 

Patrick Phelan, 39, of Lynn, said he has decided to leave candy spread out on a table at the end of his driveway. It’s not very creative, but it’s pretty practical, he said. 

“I just feel that with making simple changes that handing out candy to kids is no more dangerous than going to 7-Eleven and grabbing a candy bar,” said Phelan. “(It’s) probably less dangerous since it will be outside in the open air. Kids deserve a chance to have as normal a Halloween as we can make (it).” 

Deserrae Moran, of Lynn, said her family will not be trick-or-treating this year, but has decided to leave a bowl of candy outside for the few children that do come to their home each year.

As for her family, she said, “we are having a Halloween party with our children.” 

Lynn Councilor-at-Large Brian LaPierre said his family is also choosing to go forward with the “honor system,” in terms of handing out candy this year. His family, who live on Rand Street, will be displaying individually wrapped “ziploc” bags along a socially distant table in front of their home. 

The outdoor table can accommodate up to 50 mini candy bars at a time, but LaPierre said they will be replenishing the treats throughout the evening. His family plans to limit their distribution from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. 

“It will be an honor system, but we will monitor groups as well and limit each treater to one per bag,” said LaPierre. “We will have a ‘purple pumpkin’ displayed that means the candy has been prepared with COVID-19 compliance, meaning hands (were) washed (and) gloved when putting the candy into individual ziploc bags and set up in a socially distant way.” 

LaPierre said his family hands out candy to trick-or-treaters each year, but felt it was especially important to continue the tradition this year to provide a sense of normalcy for Lynners in an otherwise abnormal year. 

“Taking these extra precautionary steps should encourage others to put out treats but only if they put in the extra effort to do it in both a safe and responsible way,” said LaPierre. “I really want to show our community that we can have Halloween still but in a different and safe way.” 

Lynn City Councilor Dianna Chakoutis, a friend of Conti’s who lives in the same neighborhood, said she typically gets at least 300 trick-or-treaters on her street, but is unsure what this year will bring. 

Since Chakoutis, who lives on Thistle Street, has an autoimmune disease, she’s opting to leave a bowl of candy and hand sanitizer on a table outside on Halloween. 

Some neighbors have told her they’re leaving their lights off and skipping it altogether, while other parents have chosen to give their kids “Boo baskets,” which are similar to Easter baskets, in lieu of trick-or-treating. 

“(We) usually have carloads of kids,” said Chakoutis. “It’s going to be very interesting to see if parents are going to let them. 

“With numbers rising in the city, it’s actually kind of scary. Just be careful out there.”