No Halloween Parade for Easton This Year

It's been about 30 years since Easton and Phillipsburg combined their Halloween parades.

In that time, Easton Mayor Sal Panto said, they've never had to cancel.

Until now.

Officials in both communities agreed to postpone the parade last weekend out of concern for the approaching Hurricane Sandy.

On Thursday, the combination of fuel shortages in New Jersey and scarce public safety resources in Pennsylvania caused Easton and Phillipsburg to simply cancel.

"Public safety is more important than a parade," said James Graham, head of the Warren County Chamber of Commerce, which organizes the event.

He said that the lack of fuel in New Jersey would make it difficult to gas up police cars, let alone floats for the parade. 

Panto said another factor is that the city simply doesn't have the traffic control devices it would need to control traffic during a parade. They're all in other parts of the city, blocking off areas damaged by the storm.

Panto said the city is making "slow but steady" progress in recovering from the storm, but noted that several residents -- himself included -- were still without power.

Two other weekend events in Easton are being affected by the storm. Two shows at the State Theatre -- Steve Martin's performance on Saturday and the Golden Dragon Acrobats on Sunday -- have been postponed due to Hurricane Sandy.

In the case of Martin's show, ticketholders will be notified of a makeup date. The Golden Dragon Acrobats will return March 10, 2013, for shows at 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Tickets for Nov. 4 will be honored on that date.