Halloween a day early in Carson, again

Carson City will celebrate Halloween a day early Oct. 30 to avoid conflict with Nevada Day parade and other events on Oct. 31.

The change will be familiar to many long-term residents.

The city wants to make sure children can trick-or-treat without the traffic or crowds that come with the Saturday parade day in Carson City, City Manager Larry Werner said.

"Nevada Day can get a little rowdy," he said.

Supervisors approved the change last week so people would be prepared to change their schedules, he said.

The state holiday was celebrated on Oct. 31 until 2000. The city would regularly declare that Halloween would be celebrated on Oct. 30 until the law was changed, Werner said.

A voter-approved bill set Nevada Day on the last Friday in October starting in 2000. The last Friday of the month is Oct. 30 this year, so the parade day follows on Halloween.

Nevada Day parade celebrations started in 1938, according to Nevada Day Inc., the nonprofit that organizes Nevada day.

Reg Creasey, president of Nevada Day Inc., said he and former Mayor Marv Teixeira pushed to change the law so the parade would always be on a Saturday. This encouraged more people to visit and more people to enter in the parade, he said.

The change in law also means the city won't have to observe Halloween on Oct. 30 every year. The city will have to move Halloween every eight years, however he said.

Nevada Day Inc. is trying to make the parade day more of a family friendly day than used to be, he said. There is "still a fair amount" of drinking on that day, so it's good to move trick-or-treating when needed, he said.

Kathy McClintock, a board member of Nevada Day Inc., said she was happy as a child that Carson City celebrated Halloween a day early.

That meant extra candy. She could go trick-or-treat in Carson City on Oct. 30 and go to Douglas County, Lake Tahoe or Lyon County on Oct. 31 to trick-or-treat again.

"It was cool," she said. "You got to double dip."

Keeping Halloween and the Nevada Day parade separate is a good idea, she said. The parade events are more than enough for parents and children when the day is done, she said.

"You're tired by that time," she said. "It's been a long day."