GREENSBORO, N.C. — Does the ‘new normal’ include Halloween Trick or Treating? I hope so. Granted, you don’t want everyone to be sticking their hands into a bowl and sharing germs while picking out a piece of candy, but with Trick or Treating is an outside event, can’t we find solutions to the candy distribution?
2WTK went to one of our trusted sources for help, retired WFMY engineer Lee Wimbs. He’s always tinkering with something and coming up with real-life solutions for everyday type problems.
“A lot of people have seen the videos where you take a pipe or a tube and you fasten it to your railing steps. That works great, you have the six to 10-foot distance, everything is cool, but what happens if you don't have the railing or the steps? What if you can't afford the PVC pipe? You have a couple of options,” said Wimbs.
In typical engineer fashion, Lee made a few sketches before he tried them out in real life. He included everything from the basic tube tied to the railing, the porch post to the chair, chairs at top and bottom stairs, and even a zip-line method.
“We all know how gravity works, so the higher your end is as the candy giver, the more speed and more reliability the candy has to slide down to the kid,” said Wimbs.
He went looking for an alternative to the PVC pipe which can be costly. His answer? A downspout, like a gutter.
“It's lightweight, its fairly inexpensive and it gives you more distance because it comes in a 10- foot length. Attach it to anything, just as long as one end is higher than the other end,” said Wimbs.
Now, like engineer Lee, don't forget to try it out before the big night.
“There's nothing worse than trying to give candy to a kid and it gets stuck somewhere in the tube,” said Wimbs.