Stay safe, but enjoy the evening

DKS Editors

Whether you’ve been planning and piecing together your costume for months or just plan on hitting a Halloween shop, thrift store or Wal-Mart at the last minute, this weekend’s unofficial Halloween celebration should be a night to remember – or forget.

Kent State students will be out in force, possibly scantily clad, braving the freezing temperatures. Weather.com predicts a high of 54 degrees Fahrenheit, but a low of 41, with the possibility of showers. Here’s hoping Northeast Ohio doesn’t hit us with an early snow.

Maybe you plan on staying in this weekend. Maybe public intoxication combined with rainy weather doesn’t appeal to you. We say, check it out anyway, but we recommend bundling up. Kent’s unofficial Halloween celebration is possibly the city’s best free theater production, and everyone’s an actor. If this is your first time, we’re sure it’s going to be a good one.

Ohio University has a similar celebration, but we feel there’s something unique about Kent Halloween. Maybe it’s how seriously everyone takes it. Maybe it’s the families and Kent residents who line the streets, simply observing the fray. Maybe it’s how impossible it is to get into the bars, or the hundreds of house parties. Maybe it’s just because we live here.

It’s a feeling that anything can happen, that there’s something unexpected around the next corner. That for one evening, we can escape our dreary collegiate lives and pretend to be someone – or something – we’re not.

Sure, you could drown yourself in alcohol and not remember coming home, but we don’t recommend that either. We could easily tell you not to be an idiot tomorrow night, but we can’t tell you what to do. Even with all the merriment, Kent Halloween has been tinged with tragedy.

In past years we’ve seen a fraternity house catch fire and a man pushed under a tow truck. We hope something of that magnitude doesn’t happen this year, but you are the ones who can help that. Every year Kent Police, who will be out in force, make numerous arrests for underage drinking, public intoxication and assault. Remember the police are also there to help you if you get in trouble or if you see something that doesn’t look right. Be aware of your surroundings. Stay safe, but have fun.

Happy Halloween.

The above editorial is the consensus opinion of the Daily Kent Stater editorial board.