City workers began removing the previous evening’s Halloween decorations from East Gate before the lamps had fully gone out. Paper garlands came down easily, lantern hooks were collected and three cardboard masks were returned to the event store. One black paper bat, however, remained wrapped around a high signal wire above the arch, where the wind had folded both wings around the cable as if the decoration had made a deliberate decision about winter accommodation.
A ladder was brought out, but every time a worker reached the upper rungs the evening wind turned the bat to the other side of the wire. Two children on their way home began offering instructions from below. Their preferred method involved waiting until the bat became tired. The senior worker explained that paper decorations do not become tired, although the crew certainly could.
The bat was finally removed with a long hooked pole just before the street lamps brightened for the evening. It suffered one bent wing and was placed with the other reusable decorations. East Gate is now officially clear of Halloween material. The children have asked whether the bat may be returned next year, preferably to the same wire.
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