Quiet Halloween in Moosomin area

November 3, 2012, 11:11 am
Adam Wightman

There were more treats than tricks on Halloween night in the Moosomin area.

The quiet Halloween is part of a nearly 30 year trend that has seen Halloween in the area become increasingly subdued.

"Halloween is not an issue here anymore. It has run its course," said Cpl. Andrew Dolman of the Moosomin RCMP.

It hasn't always been that way. Youth used to burn hay bales on Mosomin's Main Street, damage cars and egg houses on Halloween night.

Dolman says that one of the reasons that there has been a decline of mischief in Moosomin on Halloween is the annual Halloween youth dance, Spookarama, which was held for the 25th year at the Conexus Convention Centre on Halloween night.

The event helps keep Moosomin's teenagers off the streets. Only students who live in Moosomin or go to McNaughton High School can go the the dance.

"It kind of nipped the problem in the bud right away. There was probably a few years (since Spookarama was first held) where some things happened but nothing major."

This year around 200 teens were in attendance, and a number of them received prizes throughout the night—which in addition to the DJ provided an incentive for them to stay.

The organizers have a policy that prohibits people from re-entering after they leave, so they can't go out drinking and then come back in.

The chaperones at the event only had to deal with a couple of individuals who had too much to drink before they attended the dance.

But other than the dance, it was a pretty uneventful night for the Moosomin RCMP, and they had only three members working the night shift, with one at Spookarama and another member who was on his day off and helped chaperone.

With Moosomin's teenagers behaving more like angels than ghouls on Halloween, there is no need for a large police presence around the town, said Dolman.

"We don't need to be copping every corner. And the trick-or-treating is done by nine, so there aren't that many kids running around."

While the Moosomin area was quiet on Halloween night, RCMP were busy across the rest of the province.

From 6 p.m. Wednesday to 6 a.m. Thursday, Saskatchewan RCMP received 296 calls for service:
- 18 911 calls came in to the dispatch centre. Of those 9 were abandoned 911 calls ( the caller hung up).

- 27 calls were in relation to Assaults.
- 21 calls were for disturbing the peace or causing a disturbance.
- 6 were in relation to failing to comply with a probation order.
- 2 were for reports of fires.
- 12 were for reports of impaired driving.
- 16 were in relation to offences involving liquor.
- 34 were in relation to damage to property.
- 4 were in relation to drug offences.
- 33 were in relation to traffic offenses.
- 4 were in relation to unwanted persons.
- 5 calls were in relation to the Mental Health Act.
- There were 10 false alarms.
- 1 Animal Call - (Dead Dear on Highway 11 near Saskatoon).

Halloween is traditionally one of the busiest nights for RCMP across Saskatchewan.