The annual Christmas parades that brighten neighborhoods throughout O'ahu will begin again this year on the day after Thanksgiving. But there's a small, sugar-coated element of controversy attached to the once-traditional practice of tossing candy to eager children along the route.

In most cases, this has been curtailed or minimized, though many adults may remember the thrill of jumping for candy as the parades passed by in years past. That's because guidelines included in the parade application specify that candy-tossing is restricted.

"We'll have elves hand out candy instead of tossing it out," said Patty Teruya, who oversees two holiday parades — one in West O'ahu's Kapolei community, the other in Waimanalo.

"The thing is, if you throw the candy, you might hit a kid in the eye. Safety is our concern," Teruya said. "So we'll have volunteers with buckets, handing out the candy.

Walter Kuroiwa, who is chairman of the Hawai'i Kai parade, said that the candy toss is history in his neighborhood; volunteers have been handing out pieces of candy to kiddies along the route for several years. "Liability was the issue," he said.

Holiday parades are planned in communities across O'ahu, from 'Ewa Beach to Kapahulu.

Some planners, however, say they're not in the loop on a no-toss directive.

"I don't think we've ever heard about it," said Anson Riego, chairman of the Wai'anae parade. "We're giving out between 400 and 600 pounds of candy, and the kids welcome it. And we have military walking around the float for crowd control, so there are no kids running out (into the traffic). That's why we toss.

"If we're prevented (from throwing candy), I think we'd get 5,000 names on a petition to support (the tossing)."

Jeff Niebling, who oversees the Kaimuki parade, said candy is distributed only from a fire truck. Now that organizers are distributing candy in this more controlled fashion, Niebling said, the volume of sweets distributed has been cut in half — though he couldn't say exactly how many pounds of pieces will be part of the parade.

Antya Miller, chairwoman of the Hale'iwa parade, said the rules are spelled out in the city's permit application.

"The city says we have to hand it out, so kids don't run into the street," she said. "I don't know if it's true that kids do this, but when you throw candy, there's also a lot of waste. Since the parade people are responsible for cleanup, too, that's the other part of the ruling favoring handing out."

The guidelines in the parade application state that candy- throwing is allowed if a street is completely closed to cars. While some parades may close the road along their route, most allow traffic on one side of the road. However, some folks still toss, while others have begun to hand out the candy.

Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com.