Trick-or-treating in the Upper Historic Loop will be a little easier to navigate for the youngest of youngsters in downtown Eureka Springs on Halloween Night.
Thanks to the urging of Mark Hughes with the White Street Halloween Candy Bank, and in cooperation with city officials, vehicle traffic will move in one direction from the Eureka Springs Community Center to the Crescent Hotel from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., “peak hours for the youngest traffic,” on Halloween Night, Friday, Oct. 31.
Overall, the event lasts from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. that night.
“This just in — for the first time ever, the City of Eureka Springs has agreed to control the flow of traffic on the Upper Historic Loop for 2 hours on Halloween Night!” Hughes wrote recently on the White Street Halloween Candy Facebook page.
“In past years we have had some dangerous traffic snarls where the road narrows down and it’s up to drivers meeting to yield to the other,” the post reads. “When the traffic is congested, it gets too dangerous for cars to back up with so many kids present.”
The White Street Halloween Candy post says that traffic coming toward the Upper Loop from any street downtown (Elk, Mountain, Fuller, etc.) “must turn TOWARD THE CRESCENT in those 2 hours.”
“If this experiment goes well, we will try to get the hours extended into the darker, busier hours of the evening,” the post reads, adding thanks to Mayor Butch Berry and mayoral assistant Kim Stryker, along with police chief Billy Floyd and transit director Ken Smith.
MORE CANDY BANK DONATIONS NEEDED
Hughes reports on Facebook that donations to the annual Candy Bank, which are then distributed to homes to pass out in the Upper Loop, are off to a slow start.
“Friends, the Candy Bank is not off to a very good start this year,” Hughes wrote on Facebook on Oct. 15. “Normally, we’ve taken in about 5 times this much candy by now. We’ve had several nice donations, but it’s going to take a village to get this done. Our hope is that the next two weeks will see a major uptick, so please consider dropping off whatever you can share at one of our drop sites soon.
“You can also use Amazon to have donations of candy or toys ship directly to us.”
This year, the White Street Halloween Candy Bank is using two donation sites — Harold’s Diner at 17 White and Regalia Handmade Clothing at 16 White.
“As you know, the Candy Bank accepts donations from all over town (and corporations, too) to redistribute to the homes on the Upper Business Loop to supplement an expensive evening of privately-funded giving,” Hughes wrote online to announce this year’s start of the annual program. “We also serve as an information hub to field your questions about safety and weather.”
For more information about the project, search for White Street Halloween Candy Bank on Facebook.
