If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be invaded, head over to Forest Avenue in North Riverside on Halloween night. Normally a stretch of street you could take a nap on before a car would interrupt you, on Halloween night its remarkable decorative displays are an area-wide draw.
While previous years have been crowded, forcing the village to reroute traffic patterns and beef up safety precautions near the street, 2007 seems to have been the straw that broke the camel’s back.
One resident lodged a formal complaint to Mayor Richard Scheck, asking that the situation be rectified. Another started a petition of complaint to the village.
Last week, Scheck and other village officials convened a meeting where residents on both sides of the issue could air their views. Clearly something needs to be done about the scale of the event.
One of the things that needs to be done, and we think Scheck is on the right track with this, is for the “Freaky Frights on Forest” organizer to suspend seeking sponsorships for the event, especially media sponsorship. While the idea behind the spectacular displays is good clean fun, it’s also become a burden to those on the block and those who live on blocks near Forest Avenue.
We’d also suggest that if the village would like things scaled back, they ask homeowners to decorate their front yards only and leave the parkways clear.
If some steps aren’t taken to control the scale of Freaky Frights, especially the aspects of it that spill over onto public property, we feel the village could be opening itself up to liability it really doesn’t need to take on.
That said, it’s also unfortunate that the displays, which have been a fixture on Forest Avenue around Halloween for two decades, have become a lightning rod for controversy. And we feel particularly bad for Mark Sajatovic, who built the first displays in the 2300 block of Forest Avenue many years ago. The displays were fueled by his sense of fun and were meant as a neighborhood curiosity. His wife’s reaction at last week’s meeting was an indication of the hurt they feel.
Of course, the village can’t and shouldn’t get into the habit of refereeing disputes over Halloween decorations on private property, but in this case, the village does need to step in and serve as a mediator. Scheck has shown a knack for maintaining North Riverside’s small-town, close-knit culture, and we’re sure he’ll be able to find a solution here. It’s also up to Freaky Frights organizers to realize that it’s time to scale back for the sake of their neighbors.