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NON-SCHOOL HALLOWEEN EVENTS STILL ON

Oct. 26, 2001 – Privately sponsored children's Halloween parties are not affected by an announcement from Gov. Charles W. Turnbull Thursday night that he had directed the Education commissioner to cancel all activities relating to the holiday throughout the public school system.
The St. Thomas Source reported earlier Thursday that the Joseph Sibilly School had been ordered to call off Friday's Halloween party, an annual fundraiser presented by Parent Teacher Association volunteers to raise money for school projects. [See "Education cancels Sibilly Halloween party".]
Allegra Kean, marketing manager at Coral World Marine Park, said on Friday morning that her office had received several calls from parents — "enough to make us concerned" — wanting to know if the Halloween party scheduled there for Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. was still on. The answer is "yes, definitely." The same applies to any other children's events that are not public school functions.
In a Government House release distributed to the news media after 9 p.m. Thursday, Turnbull said he directed Education Commissioner Ruby Simmonds "to cancel Halloween activities throughout the public school system to prevent the heightening of anxieties around the territory at a time when many persons are experiencing increasing fears and security concerns due to the acts of terrorism and biochemical attacks and threats, including anthrax, that have been perpetrated against America since Sept. 11."
Turnbull stated in the release that "common sense and sound judgment should prevail." Noting that in years past there have been "serious incidents and inappropriate and dangerous pranks" at Halloween, he said, "I think it is better to err on the side of precaution than to run the risk of incidents or criminal acts that might escalate the anxieties and potential dangers Virgin Islanders are presently experiencing."
Tutu Park Mall marketing Pamela Morales' response Friday morning was that her organization — and probably any organization — "that has decided to go ahead with their plans is taking a proactive approach — seeing that the property remains secure and keeping in contact with local and federal authorities" about any local concerns.
Morales sees the mall party, set for Saturday from 1 to 6 p.m., as an instance of normalcy at a time when lives have been disrupted by abnormal events and threats. "We have been doing this [hosting a party] for eight years," she said, "and the children are looking forward to it. We've been told by President Bush, Mrs. Bush and others to talk to our children, to assure them that we love them, and that life does go on — and, essentially, that is what this is about."

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