It's no secret that Tracey Harvey loves Halloween. For nearly a decade, the mum-of-two has been bringing the spooky fun to the kids and big kids of Molong.
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Every year on October 31, in addition to hosting Halloween at her own home, Mrs Harvey puts together a "safe house" list of those participating in the festivities. Then, 15 minutes before it all kicks off, she posts the list to Facebook.
"A lot of people are against it [Halloween] and that's why I started the list, so people know not to knock on doors that aren't on the list," she explained.
"I'm totally for Halloween, like, I'm into anything horror... [I've] always loved it.
"Even as a kid when I grew up in Parkes, I've always loved Halloween. My mum would organise with some of the neighbours around town to let me go and get lollies off them... Not many people are into it, and it's really, really sad."
Mrs Harvey had helped bring the tradition to Molong nearly a decade ago when a young girl had come to her house quite upset after knocking on the door of someone who was "dead against Halloween" and hadn't reacted kindly to the trick-or treater.
"So I said to her, 'look every year you can come here and get a bag of lollies, doesn't matter what's happening, you can just come here', and her family was quite grateful. She's a teenager now and she still comes around with her friends," Mrs Harvey said.
The state's Delta outbreak and slow emergence from restrictions had so far caused a slow start to spooky season, but Mrs Harvey has a plan to ensure the whole thing is COVID-safe - including making sure lollies are individually-wrapped.
"We do it every year. Last year was a bit of an issue [due to COVID], but as long as the rules don't change and the restrictions don't change, we should be right to go ahead [this year]," she said.
There are no age restrictions on who's allowed to participate in the "trick or treating", but there are a couple of rules: you need to make an effort to dress up and you need to be polite and courteous.
"It doesn't really matter what age [you are] - even adults get dressed up and have a bit of fun - [but]... you've got to realise that if you're a teenage kid and [there's] a five-year old-kid there, the five-year-old kid is going to go first," she said.
"And be fair - don't reach in and grab a handful of lollies... The main rules are you've got to be courteous, you've got to be polite, you've got to say 'trick or treat'."
Molong's Halloween night will run from 5pm to 8pm on Sunday, October 31. Houses wanting to get involved can contact Mrs Harvey on 0425 898 520 to have their address added to the list.
Participating houses are also encouraged to put balloons on their letterboxes and remove them once they run out of lollies.
The list will be posted to the Facebook pages 'Spread the Word In Molong' and 'Events in Molong' shortly before it all kicks off at 5pm on October 31.
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