Danger to children from traffic for a football playoff game in St. Ignace on Halloween Friday, October 31, caused city officials to reschedule trick-or-treat activity to Thursday. The change was announced by the city Monday, October 27.

The move followed agreement by both St. Ignace and Bark River- Harris high school football teams to keep a scheduled post-season football game at 7 p.m. Friday. St. Ignace Mayor Paul Grondin said he then decided to reschedule the city's trick or treating to Thursday, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

"I apologize for any inconvenience that may have been caused for some families by moving trick or treating, but my number-one priority is the safety of the kids," said Mayor Grondin. "The potential for accidents was greater with increased traffic coming into residential areas, so, after speaking with our police chief and city manager, I decided to move it a day earlier."

The action forced Hallelujah Night, sponsored by area churches as an alternative to trick-or-treating, to be moved from Friday evening to Thursday and the St. Ignace Public Library to move its open house to launch the "St. Ignace" pictorial history book from Thursday to Wednesday.

Trick or treating was moved to Thursday instead of Saturday, November 1, Mayor Grondin said, because there were more events scheduled on Saturday that would conflict with trick or treating, such as a martial arts tournament at Little Bear East Arena and a chili dinner at St. Ignatius Loyola Catholic Church.

St. Ignace Saints Head Coach Marty Spencer told The St. Ignace News Thursday, October 30, that both football teams decided to keep the game scheduled on Friday because both teams were used to playing games on Fridays. He said Halloween played no real factor in the teams' decision.

Bark River-Harris held trick or treating a week earlier, he said, anticipating that its football team would be playing in the playoffs.

Host teams, for the first two rounds of the playoffs, choose the time and date to hold the game if the two teams are less than 75 miles apart, according to Don Gustafson, LaSalle High School principal and longtime certified referee for Michigan High School Athletics Association (MHSAA).

For teams separated by more than 75 miles, both teams must come to a decision as to when to play. If teams can't come to an agreement, MHSAA rules state the game would automatically be set for Saturday afternoon.