I would like to raise the issue regarding the Halloween night curfew (in Bonnyville). I'm shocked that a town with rising numbers of young families has to abide by a 7 p.m. shut down of festivities and trick or treating.
I spoke personally with Mayor Gene Sobolewski last week inquiring as to why there is a curfew here and his response was that 15 years ago a bunch of up-to-no-good kids vandalized property and since then there's been a curfew implemented.
I've spoken with many friends and families who live here and they've all said the same thing, that they have a hard time with the curfew because as we all know, walking with little kids takes a little while and because of this curfew, there's no relaxing and having dinner with the family before going out. It's getting ready as soon as the school bell goes off and trying to squeeze everything in within 2-3 hours.
It's especially difficult for those that work until 5 pm. Most families I know go to Cold Lake because there they don't have a curfew and they're free to do what they choose.
I asked Mr. Mayor (Sobolewski) about extending the curfew until 8 p.m. and his words verbatim, "there's no way I can support it because then it lets the problem kids and teens think it's a free for all and we don't want vandalism to become even more of an problem than it is already.” I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Was he not a kid and teenager once himself? How does extending a curfew one hour give the kids total advantage to vandalize to their hearts content?
I told him if they want to do something, they're not going to let a 7 p.m. curfew stand in their way and he said, "well, that's your opinion and we'll agree to disagree".
I asked if there was any way to bring this to a public meeting and he stated that there was no way I'd be able to get a petition done in time, however if there were any passionate parents who think it's worth speaking up about, I should bring it up at the town meeting.
I don't know how many of you are out there, but I can't be the only one who thinks this curfew is absolutely ridiculous! For the sake of families and allowing them time to slow down and feed their kids prior to going out trick or treating, please let me know if you're interested in showing up to a town hall meeting. I strongly believe we need to stand up to someone who thinks that kids and teenagers are all alike and that they're going to vandalize property based off something that happened 15 years ago!
Heather Missen
Bonnyville
