MARIES COUNTY — Halloween activities will take place in both Belle and Vienna this weekend in an effort to continue the sweets tradition.

Porky’Z in Belle is hosting the first Halloween Parade at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 30 on an abbreviated parade route around town. Participants will line up at 7 p.m.

“We will follow the fair parade route except that we will turn at JJs Cafe and go up Johnson Street and end at our starting point,” the organizers posted on their Facebook page. “Line up will be along the street in front of the Church of Christ.”

Organizer Lisa Thomas asked the city of Belle’s permission to host the parade at the September city meeting and was given the go-ahead. It was suggested to be held in lieu of the local trunk-or-treat event.

“Have the kids dress up in their costumes that way they can still get out and show off their costumes,” Thomas said. “Get the businesses involved, and they are going to be able to do their trick-or treating.”

Halloween parade floats will be decorated and riders will throw candy so people can maintain social distancing.

If the event is canceled due to the weather, it will be held on Nov. 2 instead.

The Vienna Chamber of Commerce is hosting its annual Trunk-Or-Treat event at 6 p.m. on Oct. 31 at G&W Foods/Checo’s Mexican Restaurant parking lot.

Businesses and professional people will be there with treats for the kids. The chamber asks parents to be aware of social distancing for the safety of everyone.

For the seventh year in a row, Maries County Sheriff Chris Heitman is accepting names and addresses of families with disabled children and will deliver candy on Halloween. This year he has also added children who are quarantined due to COVID-19 since Vienna has seen an uptick in cases.

“We will take some late entries,” Heitman said Monday afternoon about the Oct. 27 deadline, extending it out to Oct. 29. “The most we ever brought to was 25 kids. This year I think it will be substantially more with kids in quarantine in Vienna. I am anticipating 40 to 50 deliveries that night.”

The sheriff’s department employees are packing candies in ziplock bags and are handling them according to the health department’s codes.

“We are going to leave it outside,” Heitman said about the delivery. “We are not letting anyone who is showing symptoms do any deliveries or handle any products.”

In addition to social distancing this year, Heitman also reminds those trick-or-treaters who may be traveling from house to house to practice precaution and follow safety tips.

“We will have patrols and be at both events in Belle and Vienna,” Heitman said. “Like every year, we will be conducting sex-offender compliance checks to make sure everyone is safe.”

Safety tips from the sheriff include:

Decorate costumes and bags with reflective material or tape;

Use face paint and makeup when possible instead of a mask, which can obstruct vision and hearing;

Carry a glow stick or flashlight to be seen and wear one of our cool wrist bands;

Cross the street at corners;

Look both directions before crossing the road;

Walk on the sidewalks or paths if present, if not, walk on the side of the road facing traffic;

Put electronic devices away, keep heads up and walk instead of running;

Trick-or-treating peak hours are from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Be extra careful when driving during this time period.

“We will have extra patrols out enforcing traffic safety so be sure to drive safely,” Heitman said.