VIDALIA — When little ghosts and ghouls go door-to-door for trick-or-treating next week, they’ll be walking streets decorated for another holiday — Christmas.

Vidalia utility crews have begun putting up town Christmas decorations, and though the bulbs aren’t lit, it’s easy to see that the banner across Carter Street says, “Merry Christmas, Vidalia.”

The reason for the early setup, which begins approximately this time every year, is to make sure Christmas decorations don’t get pre-empted by a major event, Vidalia Utility Manager Mark Morace said.

“We have to have everything up by the first weekend of December for the Christmas parade, so we go ahead and get started in case something bad happens and we can’t get to it, it is already up,” Morace said.

The decoration work is mingled in with other utility department assignments, and Morace said that, like Christmas shopping, it will continue until right before the big event.

Once the crews finish putting up the pole-mounted decorations, getting them wired in and replacing the broken bulbs, they will — working with the street and sanitation department — move on to setting up the animated box displays on the Vidalia riverfront.

But those wanting to take a mid-autumn drive through Vidalia’s winter wonderland are going to have to get to the other side of Halloween.

“Hopefully, we’ll get to that some time in November,” Morace said.