Commentary: Halloween Started Early with a Spooky Saturday in Downtown Front Royal – But will Tuesday be even scarier?

As the pictures, all but one at the end of this commentary, illustrate, Halloween got off to a spooky and fun Historic Downtown Front Royal Trick or Treat starting on Saturday, October 28. But was that, and actual Halloween on Tuesday, October 31, just a costumed prelude to what locally could be the scariest day of the year, this coming Tuesday, November 7, Election Day?

We say scary because if a certain slate of religious extremist-backed candidates gain a majority on the county board of supervisors and school board, the recent turmoil surrounding content and control of Samuels Public Library will have simply been a prelude to what will come next. That “next” could be an effort to control not only the direction of county government but also the content and funding of public education in Warren County toward the same socio-religious extremist perspective at play during the library uproar.

An internal debate within that religious community centered at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church would seem to indicate a philosophical divide between some more moderate members of that community to others, many with self-identified ties to Christendom College who were drivers of or supporters of those drivers, at the helm of the CleanUp Samuels Library (CSL) effort. As one will recall, while publicly portrayed as an anti-pornography initiative, early internal communications between CSL organizers leaked to the media, and others indicated the real target was any material with a neutral or accepting stance on alternate sexual identity issues that some community youth may be facing as they reach puberty. Some candidates who at the time seemed “Rah-Rah” supportive of the CSL effort now appear to be claiming a “pro-library” perspective as they attempt to reach beyond what some in the St. John’s Church community assert is a distinct minority of extremists within that congregation.

Who actually has the numbers, not only in one local church community but countywide across and beyond religious categories, should become apparent in this pivotal local election, particularly on the county government side. We urge all voters to do their homework researching the background and true agendas of those they vote for this coming Tuesday, November 7.

Another group has come into play in one local race, labeling itself as the “Team” of a candidate they oppose. That “Team” has been accused of circulating negative misinformation by social media about the candidate challenging the incumbent that “Team” actually supports.

Who holds the actual majority numbers, and how many voters did their “homework” before voting?? — Stay tuned for the result of this Tuesday’s scariest “Game of the Week”!!! But before you vote, let’s have a little fun and revisit that Spooky Saturday Trick or Treat in Historic Downtown Front Royal: