HALLOWEENING!

      SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30TH., 2016
              HALLOWEENING!

     Halloween. It may have been my
Mom's favorite holiday with the
exception of Christmas.
     When I was a kid Halloween
parties were common at my house.
I would sit around our dining room
table with my friends. My Mom would
turn out the lights then begin to
narrate a scary story about a madman
who killed and dismembered his
victims.
     As she spoke the "body parts" had
to be passed from one guest to the
next. The heart was, in reality, a
chicken liver. The eyes were actually
grapes. After her tale ended those
who made it through the sitting
were able to see the innocent parts
they had held.
      I suspect some of my buddies,
at or in their 70s, can attribute some of
their fears and nightmares to those
Halloween stories at my house!
      After the party we set out to
roam our neighborhood in search
of some candy and, if we were
lucky, a few coins here or there.
We didn't call it "Trick or Treating."
Back then we just went out
"Halloweening!" Maybe it was a
Hazleton thing.
      More often than not our
costumes were home made, perhaps
enhanced with a mask of some sort.
And we were usually expected to
sing, recite a poem, or tell a joke
before we got that treat!
       Candy didn't have to be X-rayed,
and a quarter would buy a comic
book and a bottle of soda. And you
could get two cents of that quarter
back when you returned the empty
bottle to the store!
       I guess that's what we mean
when we speak of the "good old
days!"
       Hope you have a Happy
Halloween and that all your
NEWS is good!