Hapless spy Maxwell Smart would be an easy Halloween costume.
A not-that-dapper suit, a neat haircut and a nasal voice is all you’d need to step into Don Adams’ shoe-phone. Drop the cone of silence and you can almost hear it:
“Would you believe – St. Albert has the biggest Treat Accessibly party in all of Canada?”
Unlike how Smart’s bluffs would always unravel, this is very much true, according to the Padulos of Toronto.
Rich Padulo, his wife Natasha and daughter Siena in 2017 founded a movement that last year saw nine neighbourhoods from Halifax to Vancouver host afternoons of accessible trick-or-treating for kids with mobility, sensory and intellectual disabilities.
In conversation with the Gazette last week, Rich explored why with 40 homes taking part and 1,500 children passing through, the sweet and spooky “village” was in 2023 Canada’s largest and busiest.
They’re flying out and will be alternating between the Ellington Crescent village and the only other one in the Edmonton region, in the city’s deep southeast, founded because the St. Albert village was seeing so many attendees from the city.
Padulo said he found kindness in St. Albert that he was happy to be able to provide a target for.
“St. Albert itself is a very caring community,” he said. “The city has provided probably more support than any other city from an execution nature as in helping get the message out, helping create tools for homeowners to do it themselves on Halloween night at their own house.”
New this year nationwide, folks can go to one of 716 Pet Valu stores and get a Treat Accessible lawn sign for free to signal that they are hosting a barrier-free trick-or-treat station on Oct. 31.
“You don't need a village,” Padulo said. “Any home that trick or treats can be accessible. They promoted that and I think that kind of culture just runs through the entire community and it's so much so that we actually had to create an event in Edmonton on the same day.”
It all started with a single lawn sign in Oakville, Ont. in 2017. The family moved their trick-or-treat station from the traditional to the curb to allow a boy in the neighbourhood to take part.
Seven families with children with a variety of disabilities came from as far as four kilometres away.
“That really touched us as parents,” Padulo said last week.
In 2021, they held the first Treat Accessibly village in their new home of Toronto.
“We basically just picked the street that's famous for Halloween, knocked on the doors on the street, and every homeowner we talked to said, yeah, they would take a Saturday off and just treat from the end of their driveway,” he recalled. “We called the city and got a city permit to close down the street so the whole street could be accessible for kids with mobility, sensory and intellectual disabilities. And it was so successful from the very first moment.”
Sponsors Canadian Tire and Kinder were on board when Padulo decided to expand.
“I started flying across the country in 2022 and visiting neighbourhoods that Re/Max agents locally said that's a great Halloween street.’”
That’s how he found Ellington Crescent, where between 30 and 40 homeowners agreed to take part more or less on the spot on Oct. 20 of that year.
This Oct. 20 will see the third.
“There's probably there's over 1,500 guests that come and children with and without disabilities are welcome,” Padulo said. “Parents with and without disabilities are welcome. We even have dogs that come with disabilities.”
Treats to eat, and toys for those who aren’t able to enjoy candy. Magicians, musicians and other performers: It’s all free of charge, but families have to register in advance online.
To keep the din manageable, groups are welcomed through hourly starting at 1:30 p.m.
“There's a ton of kids that don't get to have Halloween traditionally because of barriers as simple as stairs,” Padulo said. “But night time can also be a barrier. The cold can be a barrier for certain kids.
“The homeowners are just making them feel like they're what they are, the most important people in the world that day. It supports the parents and children with disabilities, but the kids and parents who come, who don't have disabilities, normalize the experience and they make it inclusive. You got to be there to experience it.”
For Ashley Otto, one of the volunteer leads on Ellington Crescent, taking part was an easy decision.
“It's amazing,” she said. “We hope lots more houses get out there and do it because it is fun. You set up a propane fire pit and grab a chair, you just get to socialize and make it more of an event than just handing out candy.”
Try it once, and the lit-up faces of the kids will have you hooked. Some residents augment what’s provided by Treat Accessible with their own treats, but everything is provided when you register, including a sign, table, chairs, a tablecloth and a bucket for the goods.
“You just want to do the event every year, she said. “It just keeps getting bigger and better.”
But wait, there’s more
St. Albert’s Family and Community Support Services department is facilitating an accessible hour at the outset of this year’s Halloween Haunt on Oct. 19. Lights will be dimmed, sounds muted and crowds smaller, according to Maurizio Giordano, the supervisor, special events for Recreation and Parks.
“Since Covid, trick-or-treating is a lot different,” he said. “There are more creative ways to give treats and more interaction. There’s definitely a need and that’s what we clung to.”
Admission will be $6.50 per child; supervising parents and caregivers get in free. Children with a Servus Credit Unit Place membership also get in free.
On Halloween itself, visit the city’s website to plan your trick-or-treat route with an interactive map identifying where accessible locations are.
And consider hosting a barrier-free treat spot yourself, with a possibly curbside accessible location, and inclusive treats that include small items like stickers or pens and pencils.
In the same vein, houses that offer non-food treats are invited to display a teal-painted Jack-o’-lantern.
The Teal Project aims to increase the amount of allergen-free treats available on Halloween, according to Nicole Synowec, community development coordinator for FCSS.
“It’s a call to action for residents to make their homes barrier-free on Halloween,” she said. “By providing these opportunities, we allow kids to be kids.”