A Washington state school district is canceling its annual Halloween celebration, and the explanation has some parents baffled.
"Let them have their 30 minutes of dressing goofy and having candy," Silas Macon, a father of two school-age girls, said Wednesday outside Maplewood Elementary School after learning that the grade-school tradition of a party and parade in costume during the last half-hour of class before Halloween night won't happen this year in the district.
A letter sent home to parents Wednesday said there will be no observance of Halloween in any of the district's schools.
"We really want to make sure we're using all of our time in the best interest of our students," Puyallup School District spokeswoman Karen Hansen said.
The superintendent made the decision for three primary reasons, Hansen said. First, Halloween parties and parades waste valuable classroom time. Second, some families can't afford costumes and the celebrations thus can create embarrassment for children.
Both of those reasons seemed sensible to the parents who spoke to ABC News affiliate KOMO-TV in Seattle. But the district's third reason left some Puyallup parents shaking their heads.
The district said Halloween celebrations and children dressed in Halloween costumes might be offensive to real witches.
"Witches with pointy noses and things like that are not respective symbols of the Wiccan religion and so we want to be respectful of that," Hansen said.
The Wiccan, or Pagan, religion is said to be growing in the United States and there are Wiccan groups in Puyallup.
On the district's list of guidelines related to holidays and celebrations is an item that reads: "Use of derogatory stereotypes is prohibited, such as the traditional image of a witch, which is offensive to members of the Wiccan religion."
"I do lots of things that are not revolving around wearing a black outfit and stirring a cauldron," Wiccan priestess Cheryl Sulyma-Masson said in an interview with ABC News in which she explained that Wiccans, or Pagan Clergy, celebrate nature.
Why not start the party with our Pumpkin Milkshake?
Bonus: it comes in the family-friendly mocktail version, too.*
Tip: Though pumpkin is inherently healthy, a lot of us try to watch our calorie intake around the holiday time, so it's easy to lighten this up.
Simply substitute low-fat milk, and low-fat ice cream or frozen yogurt in the recipe.
Since everyone may not be in the mood for a thick milkshake cocktail (or mocktail), you have the option to lighten things up even more. In that case, serve our special Blood Orange Martini, introduced to us by our favorite regular customer from our bartending days, Bernie McSherry. Though it isn't pumpkin, per se, the pumpkin garnish and cinnamon make it the perfect and playful companion, and one that's just a touch lighter, for any Halloween or Thanksgiving party, than a milkshake.
No imbibing would be complete without a delicious snack, and with pumpkin cocktails, we'd be remiss in not providing a recipe for toasted pumpkin seeds! Ingredients: One pumpkin Olive oil, vegetable oil, or olive-oil based cooking spray Sea salt
