(Radio Iowa) – Trick-or-treating is going to stay on Halloween night this year in Des Moines and the surrounding suburbs, ending a long tradition. Kids were sent out the night before Halloween on “Beggars’ Night” starting in the late 1930’s after concerns arose about safety. Clive Mayor John Edwards says people liked it when conditions required a return to the traditional approach last year. “There had been concerns over time about Beggars’ Night and the timing of it. And with what happened last year with the weather – and it was moved to Halloween – that seemed to be a success for many of the communities,” Edwards says.

Edwards says they did a metro-wide survey of residents following the change last year. “We sent the survey out, got the data back, and found out that the majority of those people in the communities wanted to have trick-or-treating on Halloween as it has occurred in a lot of other communities outside of the Des Moines metro,” he says.

He says the Halloween got twice as many votes for trick-or-treating compared to Beggars’ Night. Edwards says while trick-or-treating will move to Halloween night, he believes the tradition of kids telling corny jokes before they get candy will live on.