Good Mornin’! Good Mornin’!
I don’t know how many Halloween costumes I’ve had in my life but my favorite was when I was about 10 years old. Spiderman was always my favorite superhero for some reason and Miss Mollie sewed me a Spiderman outfit that made me feel the part.
The only drawback was the shirt had a zipper in the back and when I tried to use the combo as pajamas, that cold zipper running up and down my spine wasn’t much for helping me sleep. I don’t know what happened to that outfit. It probably fell apart after wearing it so much but the powder blue and red get up is ingrained in my memory.
Back then, there was a Halloween Carnival at Central Delta Academy and every classroom was an adventure. It wasn’t too scary but the scary rooms were dark and haunted and when you put your hand in a bowl of cold spaghetti in the dark and Mrs. Lynn Arrington (now Moore) told you it was someone’s guts, it was pretty dang believable.
There was always the cake walk where for fifty cents or so you could take home a delectable treasure from one of the incredibly awesome bakers in town. Everyone eyed the cake table waiting for their favorite to hit the walk and plans were made to try and win the favorite. I’m sure they could have a cake walk every Friday night and folks would show up and jam pack the school.
The carnival was the best cover for those of us that wanted to “roll yards” as we’d sneak away and hit Eddie’s Lucky Leadway for toilet paper and use our stealth skills to get around town and avoid Dorsey Lee the Police Chief.
These days, costumes are so complex that folks start planning months in advance and Halloween stores and trinkets eek into the marketplace before summer football practice begins. You don’t see many homemade Spiderman costumes.
And I doubt you’ll find a cake walk with anything even remotely as delicious as Miss Bertie’s Caramel Cake.
If there is one, it will be filled with some last-minute store-bought bakery goods that lack flavor and flair and the simple essence of Halloween.
These days, I’d gladly take a Mr. Fitzgerald homemade popcorn ball over any pre-packaged delight found on a store shelf.
It seems Halloween has lost its soul, so to speak. It’s all about gore and horror and complex costumes. It’s not about the fellowship and fun and working on being stealthy. Perhaps it will run its course and we’ll all get back to a simpler Halloween. I wonder who might have a copy of and the know how to put together some Mr. Fitzgerald popcorn balls?
Happy Halloween!
