What were they thinking? Fall cleanup and Halloween?

Well as if Halloween doesn’t present enough problems they are likely to be compounded this year because the Town of Yarmouth, in its never surprising wisdom, has scheduled the annual fall clean up for Oct.29-Nov.2.

When we questioned the idea of clean up being on Halloween, town officials were quick to tell us the people they hire to pick up the unwanted items are competent and will do each day’s pick up thoroughly.

That’s not the problem.

For starters, despite warnings that people are not to put trash out for pick up before a certain time many, if not most, people start hauling their unwanted items to the side of thye road days—sometimes weeks—beforehand. We have seen some already.

Like most unenforced bylaws around here it does no good to tell people they’re apt to get fined for doing this; it has been done for years and will be done again this year. Meaning that even if those picking up the stuff clean up everything on Halloween day, there will be other areas of town to be picked up on Nov. 1 and 2 that will have trash on the side of the road on Halloween, Oct. 31, and beyond. So kids trick or treating in those areas will likely face a mess. And for some tricksters we suspect finding things to toss into the road or set afire will be much easier this Halloween.

There’s also the matter of younger kids dashing from house to house and across streets as they seek treats having to make their way around and through the curbside trash. Halloween safety indeed.

It all smacks of a recipe for disaster. Surely the town could do better.