Halloween memories

Man, as a kid I loved Halloween.  I loved dressing up and getting to go out into the spooky night.  I am one of six kids.  We'd usually all go out trick-r-treating together.  I don't recall us having any fancy bags. A brown paper grocery bag did the trick just fine.  We used the ones with the twine carrying handles.  I'd often take markers and do my own Halloween design on the bag.  I was pretty good at drawing bats and jack-o-lanterns.

There were two big Halloween events.  The first of course was Halloween itself.  The second was the BIG Halloween Carnival at R.A. Mitchell Elementary.  It was the ONLY time I enjoyed going to school.  This was ages before people started calling them Fall Festivals and having Trunk-R-Treats.  I had a terrible experience at school, school being a hellish time in my life.   It was very appropriate to host a Halloween Carnival at the scariest place on earth - a public school facility.  That being said, R.A. Mitchell's must've been the biggest and best extravaganza in all of Etowah County.  It seemed everyone in the county showed up those nights.

When you go to a Fall Festival today - you don't get bona-fide cakes at cake walks.  Back in our day cake-walkers could score the real deal - a two layered cake!  Man-O-Man!  I think I mentioned in a past post that our school actually owned a casket and kept it stored behind the stage (lunchroom area).  That's right.  They would have a haunted walk back there where a guy in a casket would rise up and scare little kids.  Yep, R.A. Mitchell was good at that, and they really shined on Halloween.

Halloween night itself was always a great adventure.  We'd all walk close together on the cool crisp night from house to house.  Every now and then we'd come across a stretch of road that we'd have to travel with little to no street light.  I remember feeling a little uneasy, thinking maybe it was a place real creatures of the night would find appealing.  Real monsters would like this kind of place.   They could sit there in the darkness and shadows of the dense foliage and wait for some kids like us.  They would be waiting and watching for just the right moment to jump out and pounce on their terrified young treats.  Maybe it would go for the kid with the flashlight....the kid with the flashlight would be the first to go.  He would be the one quickest to see to eat!

Hey Cindy, would you like to hold my flashlight?