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Ohio first-graders ask city leaders for longer trick-or-treat hours

Posted at 9:17 AM, Oct 23, 2015
and last updated 2015-10-23 10:17:11-04

Through the streets of Middleburg Heights, Ohio they marched carrying signs, demanding action from City Hall while chanting of all things, "we want candy."

Understandable when one considers the priorities of the average first grader. The students from Big Creek Elementary School marched from their school to City Hall to ask Mayor Gary Starr to extend trick-or-treating this year on Halloween from 6-8 p.m. to 6-8:30 p.m.

The students presented the mayor with their list of arguments for the one time extension primarily because Halloween falls on a Saturday this year so they don't need to get up early for school the next day.

One student even made the argument that longer trick-or-treating hours are actually healthier.

"We'd get more exercise," he said.

In the end Mayor Starr left it up to a vote of the students who overwhelmingly approved the change, which the mayor quickly signed into law.

"This is democracy and you exercised your First Amendment free speech rights to redress a grievance, to change a law, to change a rule and extend it 30 minutes," Starr told the kids.

The vote prompted one of the 6 year olds to shout out, "this is the best day of my life."