Trick-Or-Treating In Northern Illinois: Here Are The Area’s Hours

As the parent of two adult children, I must confess that I miss the Halloweens we celebrated when they were both little kids.

One of my favorite memories is when my then 4-year old son decided that he wanted to be carried home right after we arrived at the absolute farthest point from home in our neighborhood. I don't remember his costume, but I think that he was an anvil, a set of free-weights, or something equally heavy.

Coincidentally on the same night, several of our adult neighbors were going house to house with Solo cups, engaged in something they called "Trick-or-Drinking." I think the trick, if someone didn't give you a beer, was to take a leak in their bushes...although I'm not certain. The bottom line that night was that my son wasn't the only one who needed to be carried home from across the entire neighborhood.

Before We Get To Trick-Or-Treating Hours For Our Area's Cities And Towns, We Should Acknowledge That There's An Ongoing Argument About When Halloween Should Be Celebrated

It basically boils down to one group of people who think that Halloween should be celebrated each year on the last Saturday of October, and another group who thinks that we should stick with the traditional day of Halloween, October 31st, regardless of what day of the week it falls on.

The pros for having Halloween on the last Saturday of October include:

• A reduced risk for fatal crashes or collisions. Kids are twice as likely to be killed while trick-or-treating on Halloween that they are on any other day of the year.
• Working parents would be able to be more involved with Halloween celebrations because it's not a "work-night."
• Kids could recover from a big night of walking and pounding down sugar the next day, Sunday, rather than having to do it on a school night before a school day.
• Kids could have their homework done the night before, so all they have to concentrate on is the Halloween celebrating.

The cons for having Halloween on the last Saturday of October include (hat-tip to ProCon.org):

• Moving Halloween to Saturday would put kids on the streets on the most dangerous night of the week.
• Moving Halloween would ignore the holiday's ancient and religious traditions.
• Moving Halloween to Saturday would allow kids more time to be mischievous.

Personally, I'm leaning toward the "move it to the last Saturday of the month" crowd.

Here Are The Trick-Or-Treating Hours For Northern Illinois

These are effective for Thursday, October 31st:

Beloit: 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Belvidere: 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Byron: 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Caledonia: 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Capron: 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm (Parade at 7 pm)
Cherry Valley: 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Dakota: 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Davis: 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Durand: 5:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Edgerton: 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Forreston: 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Freeport: 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Janesville: 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Loves Park: 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Machesney Park: 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Milton: 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Mt. Morris: 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Oregon: 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Pecatonica: 5:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Poplar Grove: 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Rockford: 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Rochelle: 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Rockton: 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Roscoe: 5 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
South Beloit: 4:30 pm – 7:00 pm
Stillman Valley: 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Winnebago: 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Or, you could just stay home with your pets: