When I was a kid growing up in a small town in Maine, Halloween was one of the best times of the year. There were some community events, but for the most part, the fun was in the collection of candy. Living in a small town, we knew everybody, and it would be my father’s job to drive us around and point us in the right direction. As very young kids, we kind of needed the guidance, and as we progressed and got older we needed, rather we wanted less and less of the guidance. We would go from house to house, and I know it was something we take for granted now, because we weren’t worried about getting abducted, or poisoned, like it seems you have to be today. It was just fun. We learned the tricks of trick or treating from the older kids, who quickly taught us that a pillow case holds a lot more candy than the plastic bags our parents wanted us to use. We also learned that what kind of costume you wore really didn’t matter. I can remember as a very young person, always wanting one of those store made costumes, that had the half mask made of plastic. I do not remember all of the costumes that I wore, but I remember that as I grew, my costumes became more homemade and it was a lot more fun and memorable. I know that one year I went as a football player, and it was probably the best costume ever. As an adult I find sports costumes are the easiest and least embarrassing ones to wear. But I digress.
The purpose of this story is to share my favorite Halloween things, because although the holiday itself is safely a part of our culture and heritage, there are many people who would do away with it, due to religious reasons. It never ceases to frustrate me, to hear people claim that Halloween promotes the devil, and witchcraft and you better watch out for your soul. I think that those people ought to watch out for their soul all the time, because if Halloween can turn your kids towards the devil, or make them a witch, you need a better religion.
The fact is that the holiday is about candy, being scared, costumes and candy again, and that is it. Anyone who puts any more thought into it is just looking for trouble. Halloween should be fun and should supply happy memories that will last a lifetime. I know it did for me. I can remember the feeling of running, literally to the next house to see what we would get. I recall looking at my stash of candy and thinking that it would probably last until Christmas and then being amazed that it was always gone in a week or two. I am sure that dentists love Halloween. I remember carving pumpkins and trying to get the teeth just right, I am not sure that I ever did but I remember I loved doing it. I remember going to watch scary movies at the school, and learning about Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Werewolf. One of my favorite movies of that genre was The Creature From the Black Lagoon, I have no idea why, but I was borderline obsessed with that one.
Did I ever participate in mischief on Halloween? Well the answer would be yes I did. Nothing too destructive, because deep down I would feel too guilty to do anything really bad. One of my earliest transgressions occurred when I was in the sixth grade, my friend Mike Martin and I had gotten a full pillow case each of candy, and we were pretty proud of ourselves. It was still early when we got back to my house. We had always heard about smashing pumpkins, and wanted to try it. Now the art of smashing pumpkins was that you would sneak up to someone’s house and swipe their carved pumpkins off of their porch and then in the near by road, throw them as high in the air as you could and watch them smash on the pavement. We carried out our mission all up and down our street. We were not very smart kids, because it really didn’t take very long for people to figure out who was destroying their precious pumpkins on the pavement of Maple Street. Although I know that it was wrong, back then it was the most heart pumping adrenalin thing I had ever done. Even the other day, I was traveling around with Mike when we came upon a very nice pumpkin display in front of a house. He looked at me and said, “You can probably snatch one of those before anyone would see you.”, I laughed because it was so far fetched for us now at forty five years old to revert to pumpkin stealing. I think he would have done it if I didn’t stop him.
The Moosehead Haunted House
In Greenville Junction there was a house across the street which was then and still is haunted. How do I know this? I saw the ghosts that inhabit that place many years ago. Today it is the home of the Moosehead Historical Society, and they are too proper to tell anyone about the ghosts that wander through that house and museum. They are there, though and kids in town would do well to stay away from that house on Halloween, because it is on that night that the ghosts are most active.
