Halloween is seldom the day municipalities designate for trick-or-treating; the preferred date varies from city to city and person to person.
Marietta resident Sue Cisar, mother of 4-year-old Elena, said tradition should dictate when the trick-or-treating takes place.
"It should be as close to the holiday as possible," she said. "Halloween is on a Friday this year, so they should trick or treat on Friday."
Karen Weaver, a Marietta resident who spoke in front of City Council after a proposal had been put forward to coordinate the even with surrounding communities, said she believed trick-or-treating should remain on a Saturday.
Council President Paul Bertram said the idea would have required Marietta to hold its trick-or-treating on Thursday.
Marietta's trick-or-treating is set by an ordinance stating it will always be the Saturday before Oct. 31.
"So many people make it more than just a trick or treat," Bertram said. "Sometimes there are parties for the kids and it becomes a family outing.
"On weekday nights, there is football, soccer, tennis, and if you're a parent trying to get your kids to the different places, trick-or-treating is difficult," he said.
Marietta Mayor Michael Mullen said he was in favor of coordinating trick-or-treating with other cities because it would have lessened incidents of children going to other towns or coming to Marietta to trick or treat.
"There was the conjecture that this was not for the neighborhood kids anymore," he said. "The effort was made so that Belpre kids would go to Belpre and Marietta kids would go to Marietta."
Mullen said much of the public feedback he got was in favor of having surrounding communities coordinate their trick-or-treat day, but Bertram said most of the feedback council got said the opposite.
"The council decided it was not a priority (to change the ordinance)," Bertram said.
Williamstown Mayor Jean Ford said her city always has their trick-or-treating on the same day as Marietta to prevent so-called "double dipping."
"There were complaints that kids would be here one night and in some other town the other night," she said. "We have had ours on the same night as Marietta for years, and we don't have a problem with double dipping when we do that."
Washington County Sheriff Larry Mincks said having trick-or-treating on different days might make it easier for his department to cover as many areas as they can.
"We have a vehicle out there with lights on for every trick or treat," he said.
