HALLOWEEN!

For all of you Hollow-Weenies, please disregard this post, and darken your house on the 31st, so as to tell the kids you don't agree with their Pagan Ritualistic Unrealism. I am psyched! Halloween is one of my favorite holidays of the year. Having grown up in Maplewood in many of my formative years, we had an awesome time, as we were escorted around town by one of our parents, while the other stood as supply sergeant for the kids that were going door to door. It was a communal effort by the various neighborhoods, and everyone had a great time. I look forward to helping Mom & Dad for the upcoming Halloween Parade in Maplewood Village, helping them stem the tide of costumes.

With three feet of snow (caps)?

Halloween is all about adventure. Who cares about snow? Granted, the Hollow-Weenies, who make sure they aren't home for the kids, or darken their house, built a pillow fort, and watch Netflix in their sad little sequestered life, having heard about the little snowstorm, will probably have already bought their 156 gallons of milk, 3 pallets of batteries and 48 dozen eggs for the 36 hours they will have to endure before the roads are clear, so, again, who cares?

I am ready. I even expanded my collection of Hawaiian shirts with a Halloween model.

I'm really excited too. I actually enjoy it more as a parent than I did as a kid!! This year my kid was super bummed we don't have awesome house decorations so I think we'll need to fix that for next year! We did buy some lights, at least!

Not to hi-jack this thread - but the Star Ledger printed the Seth Boyden Halloween(less) story - it is now the most read!

http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2015/10/diversity_nixes_halloween_celebrations_at_nj_schoo.html#incart_most-read_essex_article

softparade said:
Not to hi-jack this thread - but the Star Ledger printed the Seth Boyden Halloween(less) story - it is now the most read!
http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2015/10/diversity_nixes_halloween_celebrations_at_nj_schoo.html#incart_most-read_essex_article

I'm going to go ahead and say "don't read the comments." I imagine they're ugly!

@softparade if you feel like jumping into that discussion, there is a whole thread about it. It's not obvious from the thread title though.

https://maplewood.worldwebs.com/forums/discussion/id/121666-When-is-20-80-?page=8#comment-3120014

Why would I read about the depressing bullsh*t of cancelling Halloween for the kids? Halloween is fun as Hell, and remains one of my TOP holidays of the year. I feel bad for the kids for a couple of years when the stupid storms clobbered the area pretty much cancelling Halloween for the most part, due to safety concerns with the storm damage. I can understand that reasoning (downed wires, dangling branches, etc), but to cancel all the fun because some stupid sh*t is offended by it is just that, stupid. Let's the kids be kids, it's what they are supposed to do.

Halloween is cancelled?

Simple solution to the school issue. Have an alternate fall themed party for people who choose not to participate in Halloween. It does have religious roots and there are religions where it is against their religion to be involved in costumes/ghosts/demons, etc. Call all the autumn party students to the party room 1st...then let the other kids don costumes.....with the excitement of after school (or weekend) trick or treating its not like there is much learning going on anyway .

Can't you keep it on the other thread, folks???

Paul Mulshine's column:

nj.com: Trick or treat? The PC Police Strike Again in Maplewood

http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/10/trick_or_treat_the_pc_police_strike_again_in_maple.html#incart_2box_opinion

sac said:
Can't you keep it on the other thread, folks???

Which one? I missed it. Thanks.

"Halloween or Samhain, the Celtic new year, the time of transition between life and death, became the Christian Feast of All Souls on November 1. Traditionally the day when the veils between the worlds of the living and the dead were the thinnest, it is still the day that witches and goblins move about in the world."

I remember in my elementary (Catholic) school, for November 1st -- All Souls' Day -- we had to write down the names of all of those folks we knew who had passed on. Prayers would be said on their behalf; prayers that would bring them rest. As a child, my impression of the Halloween costumes were that they represented the restless un-dead who must be prayed back into their graves. If not, your house would get egged again.

As children, we weren't freaked out about the folklore of Halloween. We just wanted the damned candy already.

I

This is a HALLOWEEN thread, not an anti-halloween thread. Halloween is awesome, and is a ton of fun for anyone that wants to have fun. Case closed.

Now back to Halloween!

I love this time of year - more than my kids, I think. I plan to sit on the front lawn in my cemetery display dressed as a corpse bride to give out treats. Looking forward to seeing all the costumes and having a little fun.

DottyParker said:

sac said:
Can't you keep it on the other thread, folks???

Which one? I missed it. Thanks.

I PMed you.

What is really odd is that I remember as a young'un going door to door in the early '50's saying, "Anything for Thanksgiving."

This was in Bayridge Brooklyn

One of my best Halloween nights ever was spent at the legendary Halloween Parade in Greenwich Village. The creativity of the costumes is amazing. Would you believe that one was a shower stall and toilet? Guess who's the Grand Marshal this year? Jonathan Goldsmith. Stay thirsty, my friends.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SNQhv5lW8U

As a tribute to all of the current controversies - the Post Office redevelopment, the (former) Seth Boyden parade, the deteriorating Holland Tunnel, lack of speed bumps on every street, and the excessive number of Brooklyn t-shirts and pillows sold in Maplewood Village - my costume this year will be the typical M/SO parent.

Apple! NEVER give up! NEVER resort to wearing the "I have no spine, I'm offended" jacket, which is all the rage these days. Halloween is a FUN day, let the kids be kids, that's what THEY want to do. Let them, as they will grow up, quicker than you think.

Here's an awesome family shot from the 90's. Dad's a Civil War Bluecoat, Mom is wearing Dad's West Point Uniform from 1962, Erin (my sister) is the witch, and I'm a Burn Victim. I WAS a burn victim, a quite nasty burn actually, so that makes it ok. I was able to use all the compression-wear in my costume, complete with self-made latex appliques on my face and neck, and Karo syrup bags dyed with colors mimicking what I personally saw coming out of me every time St. Barnabas changed the bandages. Halloween is one of the last holidays that allows people to be what they want to be. Let it out and enjoy!

I hate the war against Halloween.

Peace, and trick r treat.

kidsbooks said:
I hate the war against Halloween.
Peace, and trick r treat.

What war against Halloween? It's alive and kicking in MSO. Decorations abound. I think of it as the only holiday the whole town(s) share.

Think I'm gonna step up my game this year with full size candy.

We always hand out full-size candy. I remember how awesome it was as a little one to get a full-size candy bar while trick or treating. It was like hitting the lottery. It's awesome to see their eyes light up when you offer it to them. I don't think it's a 'war' per se against Halloween, just the usual thin-skinned idiots looking for attention by cancelling Halloween wherever they are. The same people that are offended when you wish them a Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah. I don't give a sh*t if your celebrate the holiday or not, I'm wishing you good tidings, and a simple response of, "Thank you" will suffice. Take your feigned 'offense' and bring it to your next prostate exam, so the doctor can insert it while you're looking left and coughing. Ok, back to the discussion...

To be honest, I still don't understand the early trick or treating wave around 5pm when going from house to house. People say it's a safety thing. No, having kids running around during rush hour kind of defeats any argument for it. It's bad enough having the black-clad Ninja Fashionista commuters with their daily wave assault crossing streets wherever they please. So, let's throw in a bunch of kids with the Commuter Ninjas, zinging on sugar, traversing the roads as well. Sounds like a great plan.

Growing up in the 70's around here, nobody started going house to house until after 7pm, usually after a semi-early dinner. The Moms would usually hang at home, with a few friends, and hand out candy, while partaking in a few glasses of wine, while the Dads would gear up with a few beers in a satchel, get together with about 5-6 or more other Dads and their kids and hit the entire neighborhood, for hours, until everyone was pretty much exhausted, usually by about 9:30-10pm. The area covered those evenings were epic, and nobody ever got hurt. It was a festive night for ALL involved, and really was an awesome time, being kind of an 'adventure'.

My sister on Long Island gives out full size bars

.

Lol

Note to Campbell jr.... Go to Defcon's house.

We have a full size house on our street, always the first one the kids hit. We get very few trick or treaters so we give a large amount of candy because otherwise we eat it ourselves

I'll be surprised if it is anywhere near as late as 5:00pm when they start coming. The last time Halloween was on Saturday or Sunday, I think our doorbell started ringing by 3:00pm.

We're following our personal tradition of giving out mini-rubber-duckies. Sorry, not full size, but the kids seem to love them! Advantages include no calories for us, no problem with (unlikely) leftovers, as we can just save them for next year and they are fine for kids with food allergies.