Halloween

Kiel's church planned "Trunk and Treat" - a way to give out candy from the trunks of people's cars in the church parking lot. Hundreds of pounds of candy. Kiel decked his car out like Candy Land and dressed in costume to be a candy giver outer. The event was supposed to last from 5pm to 8pm.

Drew decided he would go get candy. Unfortunately, he took so long coming up with a costume that he didn't arrive until 7pm, by which time all the candy had been distributed and the cars were heading home. Too bad. He didn't get one piece of candy.

So unlike when we were kids living in a small town. We plotted our costumes weeks in advance, finding treasures hidden in closets that we could turn into some monster or angel. Sometimes Mom sewed a costume. We all went as pumpkins at some point when we were younger. Mom had made the costume out of bright orange material, and it was stuffed full and round with newspapers.

We planned our collection paths carefully, staying within the "silk stocking" section of town where they gave out big chocolate bars, and starting the evening with the places farthest from home and working our way towards our house. That way if our bag was too full, we could drop it off at our house, take a fresh bag, and take up where we left off without losing too much time!

We always went two by two (with so many sisters and brothers, it was easy to find a partner who was willing to carry out the same plan). We worked hard to get as much candy as we could. It was a big event for a household that didn't normally have the resources to buy chocolate.

After the collecting hours ended (9pm), we would sit on the floor in the living room and sort our bounty. We would be allowed to eat some candy on Halloween night, but Mom took the majority of it and stuck it in the freezer to use in lunches for the rest of the year.

We kept some for eating over the next few weeks until the excitement died away, and we gave some to those of the household who had not been able to trick or treat - the babies, the adults who stayed home to give out candy, anyone who was sick (woe to anyone who was too sick to trick or treat - they would get the short end of the stick for sure!). Of course, we didn't mind Mom taking the apples for applesauce, and we gladly gave away any candy we didn't care for.

The hard part was giving away a candybar we really liked - even if we had a lot of them! I never realized how fortunate we were to be able to collect at least a full paper grocery bag of candy, sometimes more than that. I'm sure it didn't help our teeth too much, or our tummies, but what a treat it was!

Halloween doesn't have the same reputation as it used to have. Once it was about having fun and dressing up and playing games and candy. Now it has fallen out of grace. Perhaps it is a holiday whose time has passed. One thing is for sure. It will never be like it was when I was a kid.