BS: trick or treat in my town today

Subject: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: olddude
Date: 30 Oct 10 - 09:03 PM

What fun, I had ghosts and spiders, and banana's and elves coming to the door all night. I gave out enough candy bars to keep a lot of dentists busy ... Yea I know, should be healthy stuff but it is trick or treat and that wouldn't be right ...

What fun

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 30 Oct 10 - 09:08 PM

Trick or treat is on Sunday night here, but I have already put a dent in the candy supply we bought.

Fight these anti-candy and sugar people! Force them to eat raw pumpkin for a week.

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: gnu
Date: 30 Oct 10 - 09:09 PM

I used to enjoy it. Last year I had 23... 8 of them teenagers. And some of the teenagers were pissed off when I MADE them SAY, "Trick or treat."

I heard on the radio today that there is a new thing... "Truck or treat." You park in a (your) church yard and give out treats from the trunk of you car. Safer for the kiddies.

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: katlaughing
Date: 30 Oct 10 - 09:37 PM

They had a big "Street" at the high school last night, but I can't think of too many working parents who would want to do that on a Friday night right after a long week of work, my daughter and SIL included. We will have a few tomorrow night, I hope. I love Halloween.

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: frogprince
Date: 30 Oct 10 - 09:54 PM

They'll be around tomorrow night here. I try to come up with something off-the-wall for jack-o-lanterns to have out. This year's main effort will incorporate one regular pumpkin jack, and one little one made from a turnip, which I had never heard of until it was mentioned by UK folks here. I have to take a minute to finish the last touches late tomorrow to be sure it works out ok, for reasons that will be apparent when I get a picture posted. Our count of kids has been tapering down, but we should still get a few.
                      Dean

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: catspaw49
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 12:30 AM

Welcome to Bremen, Ohio.....a throwback little village in Faifield County where the '50's still hold sway.........at least a little.

One of thos times is Halloween. We have a few less than 2 dozen streets, most still brick and heavily tree lined. On Beggar's Night we get about 400 kids, most accompanied by family members, very few teens, and all of them very polite. We probably get two or three jerks but its rare. From 6-7:30 last night we passed out candy. It is that one day of the year I love to live here and be home. They come in a steady stream of kids and parents and on the good weather nights like this year, its almost like a community block party.

I will rue the day when the times catch up here, In many ways they have.......... but at Halloween I can relive my own childhood in another small Ohio town when it really was the 50's.


Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: C-flat
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 09:03 AM

Is it just me, or has any other UK 'catters noticed an upsurge in all things "Hallowe'en"?
Even the TV shows are themed accordingly?
I know it's always been a great tradition in the USA and I think it's culturally important to keep those traditions alive, like in Bremen, Ohio, but in the N.E. of England it was always a mere pre-cursor to the main event.. Bonfire Night! (Or Guy Fawkes Night if you prefer)
These days the supermarkets are pushing Hallowe'en merchandise harder than ever and, rather than carrying on a tradition, it feels more like we're buying into an American one, the same way schools here are adopting "Prom nights" (what was wrong with the end-of-term school disco?)
It never meant anything to me as a child and now it just appears to be yet another marketing opportunity.
Maybe in other parts of the UK it's always been a big event?? Perhaps the North East has been missing out all these years??
C-flat

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: Manitas_at_home
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 09:25 AM

Tesco's are missing out, I went to get some sweets for the hordes and they'd replaced all the Halloween displays with Xmas ones. Would one day have made a difference? Will we only be able to buy Easter eggs when we pop down for a last minute chocolate yule log on Xmas eve?

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 09:55 AM

it seems to be getting bigger here in the land of Oz.

Yesterday I was looking for stuff usually obtainable in Junk Shops aka. $2 Shops (ie. the places where ya get cheap Chinese s**t - toys, household stuff, fashion accessories, toys & stuff for pets, art & craft stuff, birthday party stuff ...

well, the front windows & isles were full to busting with cheap Chinese Halloween s**t, & hordes of kids & their parents & teens & twenties were buying this cr*p. I reversed rapidly & gave up the idea on buying what I wanted.

Today (Sunday) the only junk shop I passed had one solitary pumpkin in it's window - they must have forgotten to remove it along with all the other crap they didn't sell. Or maybe they sold everything - nah, they has enormous amounts of stuff in their display late Sat. afternoon.

Friends with little kids who live in suburbia report trick or treat has been going for years.

But I still don't recall seeing as much stuff in the shops last year.

Sat night I often go out around 11 & buy the early edition of the Sunday papers. It's fun looking at the gorgeous young things on their Big Night Out. Last night I stayed home - I didn't want to see what kinds of Night Visitors would be stalking my streets.

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 10:09 AM

Yup, 'C'....it's getting to be more commercialised every year too. I'm with you, it's an American tradition, not an English/British one..and let's face it, the *only* reason it's been adopted over here is down to making money from it.

In Sidmouth they'd wreck the phone boxes, park benches and bus stops every single year, throwing eggs and flour all over the place. The police asked the grocer's and supermarkets to make sure they didn't sell those items to kids around Halloween time, because it was costing the council so much to clean up the mess. A lot of the elderly folks got very worried at Halloween, because they didn't want to answer their doors, but realised if they didn't, then something nasty might happen to their car, their windows, or their garden..

Sadly, it seems to be 'Protection Racket Night' over here. My friend had pumpkins in her garden one year..some kids nicked 'em and caused chaos up and down the street...She no longer bothers.

Even more sadly, our society is broken over here...Maybe in small communities it's OK, where folks still know each other, but in the towns and cities it can be quite threatening.

Plus, these days, I'd be kinda worried in case some sicko has laced sweets with something, or had them hanging around in some pretty shady places..and some of the Halloween Masks are enough to make you feel ill! Geez! I hate 'horror' things anyway, so it's not my kind of night...But again, I recall in Sidmouth how one old lady was terrified when she answered the door to some kids, and one of them had on a 'Scream' mask, and he was holding a fake dagger above his head...

I mean????????????

It's good to hear the American Halloween Night is still good fun though...and I'm sure that many little kids enjoy it, in the safety of their own home. I saw quite a few cute little witches and warlocks around yesterday...but the step into the Darker Evil side of things leaves me very, very cold...and more than a little worried..

Sorry, Dan..don't mean to sound grouchy, but we have 'the other side' of it over here and it ain't always good.

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: bubblyrat
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 11:13 AM

I can't say that I am at all interested in this bizarre,foreign,alien,annual menace,which seems to be based on elements of Satanism ; yet ANOTHER reason for the Muslims to hate us as they do !

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: wysiwyg
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 11:32 AM

I arrived at church last night to lead the service in Hardi's absence, and ran spang into the town organized/safe activities. After I waited for a clown to let me make a left turn, and after I let kids and cars pass so I could get into our tiny parking lot, I set out goodies in the room we had planned to use-- which adjoins the lighted back porch of the church.

I used all that for a sermon about welcoming the stranger. In most towns the signal for "not participating" is to leave the light OFF. Once the goodies had been dug up, and set out, I turned it ON. The sermon worked well. And so did the service.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: GUEST,SussexCarole
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 11:46 AM

Anyone who knocks at our door tonight will get given a home baked soul cake. No doubt this will surprise most of the trick/treaters who will be expecting sweets or money. Souly Cakes was a custom on Gower long, long before the modern day trick or treat Halloween culture.

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: Anne Lister
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 12:17 PM

We had some hopeful kids around a couple of nights ago ... when we pointed out that Halloween was on 31st they said they had something else to do that night so they thought they'd turn up early!   We had nothing to offer them even if we'd felt so inclined (which we didn't).
We keep to an older tradition with my (adult) friends - we meet up on the most convenient day (generally a Saturday, so last night in this case) and have a huge bonfire with some mulled wine. And remember those friends and relatives who have passed on.
As I've just had a week of running children's activities for half term, which involved cutting out bats, pumpkins, black cats and all sorts and telling stories to make them jump (I keep clear of stories which might give the little darlings bad dreams!) I've just about had enough of the more popularist Halloween antics now. But we have laid in a stock of Haribo sweets in case we get visitors later - and Steve has decided not, this year, to terrify them all by dressing up as an Ogron.

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: GUEST,AllanCon
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 01:02 PM

"Is it just me, or has any other UK 'catters noticed an upsurge in all things "Hallowe'en"?"

Halloween isn't just an American thing. It has been celebrated in Scotland too. The kids still go 'guising' dressed in fancy dress and performing a wee song or joke in exchange for a treat. You do hear the term 'trick or treat' now which you didn't tend to hear much prior to ET but apart from that it is basically much the same as when I was a kid.

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: C-flat
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 01:29 PM

I didn't mean to imply that we never acknowledged Hallowe'en, we did, but it was very low key. No merchandise to buy as such.
In fact we knew it as "mischief night" which usually involved swapping the neighbours garden gates around and a chance to let off a few illicit fireworks.
What I'm getting at is the song and dance the TV companies and retailers seem to be making of it, as though we've always had some big celebration surrounding Hallowe'en.
As I type the doorbell rings............
"Trick or Treat"!

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: C-flat
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 01:33 PM

.......just pleasant little kids from up the street, all dressed up and exited, not, as often, a bunch of surly youths in hoodies looking for cash handouts.
I always find the cutest, most infantile gift I can for the older boys. Haha.
I'm turning into a right old g*t!!!

"Bah Humbug!"

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 02:09 PM

I too resent the American trick or treat juvenile blackmail here in England. However Ratty's usual Islamophobia is a sickening as usual, and Lizzie's sentimentality is pretty sickly too.

All Hallows' eve was regarded as a time of fear, when the barrier between the spirit world and its dangers (consider Anne Briggs' version of Tam Lin) was at its thinnest, and that as a tradition I can respect (even if I don't really believe in ghoulies and ghosties and things that go bump in the night).

The shop next door to me suggested I should hand out boxes of Ferrero Rocher to any pretty witches, and the other English customers and I had a good chortle at the likely neighbourhood reaction if anyone were to offer to show children a dungeon and bribe them with expensive chocs!

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: olddude
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 02:17 PM

I don't know the first thing about the custom outside of the US ... Here in my small town it is a load of fun and I look forward to it every year. I have never had 1 case where something was damaged or someone was a jerk. I only had polite kids (including the High School kids last night) all with some very clever costumes .. It was one of my favorite things to do when I was a kid ... and I am glad I live were I do because it hasn't changed at all from what I see even though the town is different and so is the state from where I grew up.   

Loads of fun except I eat way too much chocolate myself this time of the year

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 02:32 PM

Jihad against bubblyrat. All followers of the Great Pumpkin seek him out and bury him in pumpkin pie.

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: wysiwyg
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 03:15 PM

Hm, I read bobblrat's post as a joke. (How can anyone take invective seriously from a screen name like that?!?!?!?)

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: Arthur_itus
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 03:23 PM

Well on our estate in the UK, the tradition seems to be dying.

Last year we had about a dozen groups around and we always made sure they got some nice sweets.

This year it was only 2.

We are landed with a lot of sweets now :-)

We have Guyfawks next week, so can never understand why we need to do trick or treat.

A lot of parents who I spoke to, said that they didn't want their kids worrying people and worse they were worried about who the hell was opening their door to them.

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: Penny S.
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 04:15 PM

The police have little cards which you can put in the window, saying "Sorry, no trick or treat". Either they work, or there isn't much going on round here. I think what I saw in the school catchment some years ago was better. Participating houses had pumpkin lanterns in their windows. Much more positive, and stops people assuming that everyone is playing. And that includes the parents who go around with the children.

I noticed a huge increase in themed products, including fancy dress for adults, and special packs of sweets for giving out, this year. And a lot left in the shops.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: Arthur_itus
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 04:25 PM

Well Penny, we put a pumpkin outside last year, but some little bastards ran off with it. So this year we didn't bother. So maybe that was the reason.

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: GUEST,amergin
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 04:32 PM

From the Guide to Bad Parenting:

Tip #5 Halloween
Yes, it's that time of year again, when fall is in full swing, the leaves have changed colour and litter the ground, clogging up sewer drains to flood streets in the non stop rain. Yes, it's that beautiful time of year, when you're lucky to even catch a miniscule patch of blue sky, and even luckier to feel a slight touch of a sun ray, because you know you may not see or feel anything of the like again, until the following spring. Well, that is if it doesn't get so cold during the winter, all the moisture in the air dries up. Yes, it's that time of year, where you will see cheaply made gaudy costumes lining the aisles of the supermarkets, and adverts telling you to buy various types of chocolate flavoured wax, peppermint candies, artificially fruit seasoned tablets of sugar, tootsie rolls guaranteed to stick to your teeth for the week it takes them to dissolve in your mouth, or bubble gum that tastes like sweetened solidified gobs of petroleum with jokes lining the inside of the wrapper that not even your child would find all that funny. Yes, it's that time of year when beggars, instead of lining the streets soliciting you for a spare dollar or two, come banging on your front door for some tooth rotting sustenance, when drugs and cheap liquor would work just as well, if not better. Yes, it's that time of year again, that time that dentists the nation over salivate over, rubbing their sweaty palms together with glee, in anticipation of the customers they'll be robbing shortly.

It's the mainly American tradition of Halloween, when normally sane people display the true colours of their subconscious in horrifying gender bending, poorly applied make up, and clothing. You may be gearing up for that special day by watching various documentaries about vampires, werewolves, and the history of Halloween, or you may be watching poorly directed, poorly scripted, poorly acted cheesy horror flicks, where the only horrific aspect is that some one actually wasted money to make them, not to mention watch. However, as this is the Guide to Bad Parenting, I'll not waste your time (not that I truly care about that) or mine (which is more important), by discussing history or film critiquing, so if you were looking for such, do us both a favour and go some where else. I am here to properly train you to be a horrible parent.

So the first thing to be discussed in this lesson plan is costuming. Through out the year, children will be talking about what they want to be for Halloween. Their current idol changes with the seasons, and it is no different when October finally arrives, if anything their minds adjust to something different, depending on the direction of the wind. So, my advice is simple: do not let them decide anything, choose their costume for them. For boys I would suggest a Disney style princess outfit, and girls some ghastly werewolf or other monster costume. If you do it right, neither one will be happy with your choice, unless they are very strange, which is entirely possible if you have been following my steps through out this blog. You see, the idea is to get them upset with their costume, then you can piss them off even more by saying, "Fine! Be ungrateful! I worked hard on your costume. If you don't like it, then you'll just have to go without!" Then you grab your child or children by the hand/s and drag them from house to porch lit house, crying and throwing a loud tantrum. Every parent knows there is nothing more frightening than a screaming child. Isn't the goal of Halloween to scare people?

Now with trick or treating, let's say you followed the previous recommendation, your monster is showing their true demonic face beneath their reddened eyes and tear streaked faces, and people just shove handfuls of lollies, and other goodies into their bag, just to get you off their doorstep as quickly as possible, thinking maybe they should ring up the cops, but with the complacency displayed by most people chances are they will think you're not their problem anymore, when you disappear into the shadows down the street. Eventually, you head back to your house, dragging your squalling kid behind you.

Now, the public humiliation of trick or treating is over with for another year. You should place the bags of candy on the coffee table. Your little demonic spirits will surely be nagging you for some of their goodies, but first you have to examine each little piece for evidence of tampering. Though truth be told, this is an urban myth that was hyped up by a hysterical media. There has never been any evidence of razor blades found in the candies, and only two cases of children being poisoned by Halloween candy, and they were done by a parent. So normally this Halloween tradition would be needless, except for one thing: it is an irritating torture on your young ones. Just think of the fun you will have, watching their eyes grow sad and depressed as the "tampered" or "questionable" pile grows larger and larger, while only two or three pieces of candy are in the "safe" pile. However, be warned if you try to keep the goodies for yourself, your spawn will be watching you, so you will be forced to actually toss them into the rubbish bin, instead of sneaking them into your bedroom, to eat at your convenience, but then the thrill of seeing the pain you caused your children would be sufficient enough to make the sacrifice of the candies worthwhile.

There is an option though, I am sure you have not thought of, but it unfortunately only works if you're children are a bit older, like 10 to 12 years of age or so. You have them wear black balaclavas, hand each one a couple dozen eggs, and tell them to egg any police cars they see. If they are smart enough, they'll come home unescorted by uniformed patrolmen, but by that time their lollies could magically disappear into your room, where you can hold them to eat your own, or take them to work for your coworkers. The drawback with this plan,(in the slight chance you are too dim to see it) is that it could be a very expensive plan, for if your monsters are caught, well you are deemed responsible for their actions and are bestowed the privilege of paying any damages and court costs.

Now, this day is over for yet another year, and before you know it there will be no more trick or treaters residing in your house, with slobbering anticipation of the annual pillaging across the neighbourhood. No more will these little vikings-in-training be bringing their loot of victory back to your house, but soon after they will have little beasts of their own to give them nightmares.

Cheers.

nt

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: Penny S.
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 04:33 PM

The ones I saw were inside - so no stealing possible.

And that has reminded me - Waitrose weekend newspaper stated that the pumkin was the only vegetable which could be, or was, turned into a lantern. What happened to turnips and swedes?

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 04:36 PM

I used to hate the "plastic" trick or treat thing as I didn't grow up with it so it felt like an unwanted alien import, but reading the sentiments from American members of Mudcat cured me of that. Plus I think what really matters, is that it is one night of the week where the community gets to bond and adults get to be nice to kids in their area.

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 04:37 PM

Sentimentality, Richard? Where?

I watched 'Countryfile' earlier on. This chap did the most amazing Pumpkin Carvings I've ever seen. He'd done all three presenters, but in 'negative'. When you looked at the pumpkin in the daylight you simply saw a weird pattern, but in darkness, with the candle lit inside, there were the most life-like images of the presenters, shining out! Amazing!

The programme is on here, although it's still being loaded up from earlier on I think. It's there for the next 7 days..and the pumpkin bits are right at the end of the programme, probably the last 15 minutes or so...Well worth watching..

Oh..and the same chap also broke two world records for Pumpkin Carving.

BBC 'Countryfile'

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: Arthur_itus
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 04:38 PM

In the UK, Guyfawks night is a tremendous family gathering and we don't really need the USA infiltration a week before.

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 04:40 PM

It is now 2035, (time, not date, Zager and Evans fans) and I have had only three sets - all apparently from the same family, probably Eastern European, petite sharp features, brown-ish skin, scared of my dog - semingly being supervised by their big sister who spoke good but slightly accented (not sure with what accent) English. Now had a local paedophile have bought those Ferrero Rocher and had a dungeon, she COULD have been at risk!

With luck the cultural imperialism is diminishing.

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: olddude
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 04:56 PM

Sorry it is such a terrible ordeal for you Richard, I am very glad I don't live there ... I take mine right here cause it is pretty fun probably cause we all know the kids and the parents and don't go to homes they are not sure of. by the way, you leave your front light on if you want them otherwise the kids don't go near your house ... see how it works ...

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: Arthur_itus
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 04:59 PM

We left our outside light on Dan.

Maybe word got round that our sweets are crap :-)

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: Mrs.Duck
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 05:01 PM

We have great fun at halloween. Geoff and I always dress up and until this year took the kids around for trick or treat. They went with friends this time so we stayed home and opened the door to other kids, all dressed up and polite some with parents and some not. The atmosphere around the streets is fun and I have never had any negative elements. When we get home its halloween party food and mulled wine (black lemonade for the kids). I think we had a couple of dozen groups this year and they loved being met at the door by a vampire or witch

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: GUEST,SussexCarole
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 07:28 PM

Next year we will be better prepared! Our tiny village is a long way from anywhere - at the end of the Gower Peninsula. The traditional soul cakes I made ran out far too soon......We had more than 50 young visitors knock at our door this evening, all dressed in lovely costumes - obviously not just bought 'off the shelf' but put together with a lot of thought, fun and hard work.

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 07:43 PM

Trick or treating is very big in my neighborhood. It's a lovely day today, and we expect over 100 children. It's all very friendly.

My neighbor has two dogs in costume. One is Red Riding Hood. The other has a turtle costume.

Those whose houses are dark get no visitors.

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: Charley Noble
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 07:59 PM

We hosted about three dozen costumed whatevers this evening in our small Maine town. Judy and I were dressed up as pirates and had a big chest filled with gold foil chocolate coins. Several small children were too terrified to take any without help from their parents! But it was nice to share the plunder.

Arrggghhh!
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: gnu
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 08:27 PM

I was POd. I took my candy to a neighbour and asked him to be extra generous. I had a surprise health problem and couldn't accomodate T-or-Ters. I did watch a bit from my front room window and waved to the kiddies and parents. Not many... mostly neighbourhood kids and our neighbourhood is mostly old farts like me.

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: Gutcher
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 08:54 PM

USA infiltration Arthur? I suggest you take a look at Robert Burns"
poem "Halloween" for details of 18th C. customs in these parts.
Another source, 1780, states that the woman of the house supplied
apples, pears and nits (nuts). These were still the staples being given to guisers until recent times.
You may have some difficulty reading the poem as it is written in the
Scots language and the normal glossaries tend not to be detailed
enough to give the correct nuances.
As an example---find a glossary which gives the correct meaning for
                bow-kail.
Joe.

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: SINSULL
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 09:08 PM

I love Halloween and gave away six huge bags of candy before turning out the front light - the signal that there was no candy left. All the trick or treaters were well behaved and hesitated to take more than one piece of candy. So cute when a little one would ask for M&Ms or some licorice.
I loved Halloween when I was a child. Still do.
Hope I am never too old to have candy ready for little devils, fairies, ghouls and one Corporate Asshole in a business suit representing free enterprise - brilliant!
One of the few things I miss from living in NYC was the annual Halloween party I put together for the neighborhood kids. We had the bet time with a treasure hunt, apples to dunk for, costumes, scary stories... good times.

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: Alice
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 09:35 PM

Last year and the year before I had no kids come to my door, but this year they are back!

It is nice, mild weather, which probably helps.

I did expect the 2 year old girl from next door, who arrived with her parents. She was wearing a very cute fairy/butterfly wing costume.

The first two who came to my door were also girls wearing butterfly/fairy wings.

The next was a little werewolf boy with his mom.

Lots more kids and parents have stopped by.

I decorated the front steps with an old broom, candle in a jackolantern terracotta pot, and white little lights on the bush by the door covered with white spider web and black plastic spiders.

The kids and parents are having fun. It's been a good Halloween night.

A.

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: frogprince
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 10:13 PM

We had approz 30 kids, down from more like 175 a few years ago. I think the pink fuzzy custume on the youngest one to walk up under his own power (with his parents) was supposed to be a sheep, but he kept trying to roar like a lion.

This year's jack-o-lanterns: Infanticidal Cannibal Jack and whatever you call this one .

Honest, I wasn't trying to make the second one with a hare lip. I just got one spot a little thin and it shriveled away over night.

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: frogprince
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 10:25 PM

Then again, maybe that was the pink panther; I can't picture now whether he had a cat-type tail.

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 11:12 PM

We tallied 192.

The number of trick or treaters is highly dependent on the weather. It can vary from 40 to 70 degrees on an October 31. Of course, the nicer the weather, the more children there are. I always wait till the last day to buy the candy.

Hershey's kisses for the bigger kids, mints (broken to prevent choking) for the little ones.

I think that the government could win itself a lot of approval, cheaply, by declaring that Halloween shall come at the end of September rather than the end of October.

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: katlaughing
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 11:28 PM

It's my fav. holiday of the year and, like you Sins, I miss the parties we had in a huge old house, actually haunted, even!, in Mystic, CT when my girls were in jr and sr high school. We decorated top to bottom with ghost coming out of the attic windows, a graveyard with autumn leaves in the foyer, bats, spiders, cobwebs, etc. all over the house. Here, it has gradually worn off until I think most folks take their kids to the mall, the high school one night, and/or downtown (which I just found out about) on Sat. where the merchants were all giving out treats. MY brother said it was a lot of fun to see all of the kids and they had games, etc. for them. That seems like too much to me. Give me an old town like Spaw's and I would be so happy on this day. This year we had one set of trick-or-treaters and they just happened by as Rog was taking the candy out to the car for delivery to work, tomorrow.

I decorated, had a ghost which wooo-oooed and all, but other than those kids and their parents AND our grandson and his parents, we had nobody, which really saddens me. Morgan made an awfully handsome classic vampire, though. His dad did his makeup and had his red hair come to a point in the middle of his forehead and all.

I also miss being near friends who would often have a small fire tonight when we would also talk about those who'd gone on over the year past. It is a night for connecting. Blessed be.

kat

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: catspaw49
Date: 01 Nov 10 - 01:01 AM

I am happy that many of us here in the Colonies have a built-in sense of good times and aren't busy stuffing our shirts and trying to squeeze tootsie roll turds into diamonds with our butt cheeks...........

Bremen loves holidays!

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: Donuel
Date: 01 Nov 10 - 01:42 AM

We only had 10 small groups tonight.

ITs almost like Halloween got privatized.

All that free hand out Socialism has caused most people around here to reject Obamaween.

In its stead people seem to be having private cookie and tea parties. That way they are not exposing themselves to progressives or their children.

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: Arthur_itus
Date: 01 Nov 10 - 05:48 AM

So the Scots are to blame then Joe :)

Subject: RE: BS: trick or treat in my town today
From: GUEST,Patsy
Date: 01 Nov 10 - 08:12 AM

It was quiet where I was, not even one little imp. Which I expect was because it fell on a Sunday and all the little ones are too tiny to be out round our way so it was all peaceful.