Recent letters published in the Star-Advertiser have debated the practicality and propriety of moving Halloween (“Make Halloween fall on a Saturday,” Nov. 5; “Keep ‘All Hallows’ Eve’ on Oct. 31,” Nov. 9).

All Saints Day commemorates all saints and is therefore not linked, hermetically or otherwise, to any one historical date of martyrdom and has been celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church on various dates through history (it may be worth noting that October itself once referred to the eighth month).

It is currently celebrated by Orthodox churches on the first Sunday after Pentecost, which would allow a Saturday All Hallows’ Eve with plenty of daylight for safe trick-or-treating. Many Protestant denominations celebrate All Saints’ Sunday at the beginning of November, yielding a more familiar scenario for a Halloween Saturday.

Which leads to a modest proposal: Move Election Day to the Saturday prior to the first Sunday in the month of November, for the ultimate trick or treat.

Nat Pak

Kaimuki

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