Despite outside fears, Halloween still scary

Jace Radke and Angela Soo

Thursday, Nov. 1, 2001 | 9:52 a.m.

Although lingering fears over possible terrorist attacks and anthrax-contaminated candy resulted in noticeably fewer trick-or-treaters Wednesday night, they didn't stop many Las Vegas Valley parents from letting their children celebrate Halloween.

Pint-sized Power Rangers, vampires and fairy princesses marched through neighborhoods with houses decked out in orange lights and spooky decorations.

Maryann Finck had a steady stream of ghosts and ghouls knocking at her door in a neighborhood off Green Valley and Horizon Ridge parkways.

"It's been very steady, and I can't really see that there is any difference between this year and years past," Finck said. "We have a lot of kids in the neighborhood, so we expected it to be pretty busy."

Finck's home was decorated with orange lights strung in a tree in her front yard, a couple of ghosts and two tombstones.

"We usually decorate a little bit more, but I guess this year it was a little harder to get into the spirit," Finck said.

Others said they were able to get into the spirit of the holiday, but they took extra precautions with their children.

Kathleen Milawski took her daughters, Alana, 3, and Marissa, 8, to school and church events Wednesday near their home in Summerlin, but also took them trick-or-treating.

"We only kept the candy from the neighbors we knew, and I tossed the rest of it," Milawski said. "It was better to not take the chance this year."

Milawski had told her daughters ahead of time that they would be dumping the goodies from the people they didn't know.

"They weren't really upset, they just wanted to come home and hand out candy," Milawski said. "We did come across some houses that were giving out pencils and coloring books, and I thought that was a really good idea."

At the Pacific Islands apartment complex on Green Valley Parkway and Warm Springs Road, a mother preferred taking her daughter several blocks away from their residence into a gated community.

"We went to her teacher's neighborhood because it's gated and there's a guard at the gate," said Annette Brown, who works as a support staff at John Vanderburg Elementary School. "I'm concerned about anthrax."

Some parents took extra precautions by doing the opposite, staying close to home instead of venturing out to other neighborhoods.