OPINION: Ridgecrest's Halloween event is a dangerous effort on their part

This week's uproar of the day was something I never thought about putting on my bingo card - a drive-thru candy opportunity for children at Ridgecrest Cemetery.
There were people for and against the cemetery's ownership group Everstory deciding to have this in the cemetery.
The opinions against were very understandable - they felt disrespect for loved ones buried there, they felt it disrespectful for the dead in general and there were worries about safety and vandalism to the monuments in the area.
Me personally, I saw nothing wrong with it.
Back home, my mother, brother, all four grandparents and many aunts and uncles are all buried within a few yards of each other in the cemetery of Murphy's Chapel Free Will Baptist Church, which is where I would call my family's home church.
There's a tar and gravel loop through the cemetery, and if the church decided to do something similar there, I'd have no problem with it as long as everyone is staying in their cars.
The problem I have is the flyer Ridgecrest put out with the phrases "A little spooky a lot of sweet."
What could "a little spooky" mean?
My first thought was they're going to have actors depicting people buried there as ghosts or zombies a la a Jackson version of "The Walking Dead" or the Michael Jackson video "Thriller."
And considering there are hundreds of people buried there including Carl Perkins and a number of former elected officials who have gone on to their eternal reward, that thought is unsettling.
My friend Chuck Walker, host of Walker Talks on WNWS-FM 101.5, alerted me to a video posted on the station's Facebook page a person took who went to Ridgecrest's office and confronted them on their plan.
Their reaction wasn't the best if I'm their PR strategist.
They claimed there would be nothing spooky, except their flyer said it would be spooky.
And they were resolute in their decision to do it as a way to give back to the community.
I can appreciate that intention, but I'm a very sarcastic person, but I can't "give back" to the community with a little bit of humor via sarcastic news stories branded as truth (and believe me when I say I'm tempted to do that every week) because that would ultimately degrade any integrity and trust I have with The Post's readership.
This is the private cemetery version of doing that. Families have purchased plots and have made the grounds of Ridgecrest hallowed for their family.
They have made their feelings known about Ridgecrest's plans.
Ridgecrest has the right to continue in those plans, but they don't get to dictate the public response to them and they'll have to deal with the fallout if they proceed this weekend.
Mayor Conger has already weighed in on it, siding with those against it.
Hopefully, things stay civil Saturday night if this event does happen and people wanting candy without getting out of their vehicles show up.
Brandon Shields is the managing editor of The Jackson Post. Reach him through e-mail at jksnpost@gmail.com. Follow him on X.com @JSEditorBrandon. Follow him on Instagram @EditorBrandon.