Gloucester City goes rogue for Halloween

Only in Gloucester.

The gritty little Delaware River city went trick-or-treating Wednesday -- despite Gov. Christie's decree that Halloween be celebrated November 5, due to the disruptions of Superstorm Sandy.

"We put a lot of thought into it. We didn't take it lightly. We factored in everything," Jack Lipsett, city administrator, said Thursday morning. "The mayor, the police chief, the fire chief and I had a meeting...we already had Halloween planned when the governor issued his order at about noon.

"We were getting calls all day from people, asking about Halloween," Lipsett added. "Kids had been in the house for days and were going stir-crazy, and when we decided to go ahead, most of the people who called said, 'we love it.'

"We didn't do it to defy the governor. We did it to bring the community together."

Reactions posted on the Gloucester-centric Cleary's Note Book web site were mixed, including sentiments such as, "come to my house, I have plenty of candy" and "leave it to Gloucester City always going in the opposite direction."

Several Facebook posts by Gloucester-ites took pride in the city's distinctive quirkiness.

Although Lipsett said Halloween went off without a hitch, news reports about the statewide postponement did cause some confusion.

"Trick-or-treaters started knocking on my door, and I was like, "I thought this was cancelled," Gloucester resident Joe Paprzycki said. "I had a 4-year-old clown standing on my step. And I didn't have any candy."