Eleven-year-old Piper Abbett saw Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker on the news earlier this month talking about Halloween and how trick-or-treating might be done safely in the pandemic. That got her thinking.
At first she thought of her idea for king-sized candy bars as a joke, but then it started to make more sense -- fewer hands rummaging around a giant bowl of mini candies would limit the potential for the virus to spread.
So she wrote a card to Baker, he mentioned it at a press conference, and soon everyone from Massachusetts to the United Kingdom was reading about how every child's Halloween fantasy might be just the thing to keep people safe this weekend.
"I hope everybody takes your advice," Baker told Abbett on Friday, welcoming her to the State House.
Dressed as The Incredibles, Abbett and her friend Emily Van Rhijn visited Boston from Sherborn to meet Baker and collect some Halloween goodies. The governor had laid out an array of king-sized Kit Kat bars, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Cookies 'N Creme Hershey bars between two intricately carved pumpkins that had been sculpted by a staff member. He also had a giant cardboard Kit Kat bar printed up as a keepsake.
For the governor, the kids gave him a note, a Harry Potter painted pumpkin and a mason jar of homemade green slime. Both Baker and Abbett agreed that Almond Joy was the worst candy to get on Halloween.
"I hope you have an awesome Halloween and a safe one too," Baker said, using the occasion to also remind the public to trick-or-treat safely in small groups and with masks.
More on Halloween in Mass.
On Saturday, Baker said, he will be giving out candy at his Swampscott home from a distance, after rigging a heavy-duty cardboard tube given to him by a friend in the carpet business to his front staircases. He plans to slide the candy down to visiting trick-or-treaters.
You can see our Massachusetts town-by-town trick-or-treating guide here.
