When I was about eight years old and we still lived in Wisconsin, there was a Halloween costume contest at the high school across the street from us. My two best friends and I dressed up as the three men in a tub--Jean was the baker; Joan was the butcher; and I was the candlestick maker. We had a piece of linoleum put together in a circle that we carried as our tub. We won first prize in our age division, and I got 50 cents--a great sum that I was very proud of.
One year, the town of Elroy did a wonderful thing that I still remember as being great fun: They dumped a truckload of sand on Main Street, and as they dumped the sand, they scattered change throughout the pile. Children below a certain age were allowed to dig through the pile to find and keep whatever amount of money they found. I don't remember finding any money, but I loved digging in the sand and getting dirty without anyone caring. Not sure that was on Halloween, though. Alan thinks it would have been too cold in Wisconsin to do that. Any of my siblings remember this, too?
After we moved to Louisiana, I went out trick or treating for UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Fund) one year. It was a way for children to raise money for other children, rather than asking for candy. We were each given a special donation box and information about UNICEF and what it did. A few houses grudgingly gave me some change, but I abruptly stopped and went home when at one house, I was angrily told that I was raising money for a Communist organization!
My first year at MECC I was teaching a night class in Clintwood, VA, which is way up in the mountains near the West Virginia border. As it happened, the class was supposed to meet on Halloween. My students tried valiantly to convince me to cancel class because of my dangerous drive back home, which would take me about an hour late at night, some of it on back roads. They said that Halloween is always when malicious pranksters do things on the roads. I thought they were just trying to get a holiday, so didn't cancel class. I was wrong. On my way home, I had to wend my way around a tree that had been felled in the road, hay bales that had been lined up on the road, and a brush fire that had been set by the road. Luckily, others had gotten there before me and cleared enough for a car to get by, so I didn't have to get out and deal with them. But it was still scary, to say the least. I apologized to my students the next week. They were obviously very right, and I was silly to not believe them.
In 2013, our first trip with our former trailer was to Roan Mountain State Park, where we happened onto a huge Halloween celebration. People brought elaborate decorations to the campground and children from all the little towns in the area showed up in their costumes to go trick or treating throughout the campground. The park had a great bonfire, with hot dogs and marshmallows for everyone to enjoy. It was great fun. I don't know if they still do that, or not.
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| YUM! marshmallows! |
I would love for you to share your Halloween memories!
4 comments:
I have few memories of Halloween. I remember it was a time for pranks by teenage boys. which meant someone was going to get their toilet turned over. I can relate to your driving home at night experience.
I can only remember one costume. Men's long johns with a pillow underneath. It was excruciating trying to keep the pillow tied and not falling. I cannot remember if it was my costume or someone else's and I just felt empathy for them. :)
I do remember pouring out our candy from our paper bags on the coffee table, one big pile, and picking out the pieces we liked best.
Most of my life I have not lived where there were many trick or treaters, but I enjoyed handing out candy when I lived in Norton.
I have never been to a Halloween party for adults.
Sharon
My brother Loren sent this comment:
While in Richland Center we would wake up after Halloween to find the wooden steps from our back door gone. Dad would have to drive around town to see where they had been left and bring them back. I remember he tried unsuccessfully to nail them down so they would be harder to move. I also remember he was very unhappy about this Halloween prank. I also remember as a teenager in Elroy going around with the neighborhood boys as a group to see what pranks we could play. The only one I remember was seeing who could throw rotten tomatoes from a garden far enough to hit the owner's house. It sounds mean to me now. I like the idea of giving candy to the kids at the door, which I don't remember doing in Elroy. I do remember the money in the sand pile, but not when or where. Maybe it was part of the annual Elroy Fair.
Loren
I don't remember that people did trick or treating in Elroy until the last year we were there. Mom was dead set against the thought of it because she said it was begging--low class behavior. Finally, she realized it was harmless fun and gave in to the concept. I remember the adventure I felt when my friends and I went trick or treating to an elderly teacher's house, just down the hill from us. She didn't have candy, but she gave us each a nice big cookie.
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