West: Halloween tricks change with time

By MIKE WEST

Halloween has certainly changed over the past few years.

Especially trick or treating … it has really changed.

Back when I was a boy, we would walk for miles filling our (relatively) big bags full of candy, popcorn balls and shiny, red apples.

 Heck, some people even handed out money usually in the form of dimes. Others would offer you a real candy bar not the tiny replicas available today. Of course, you could get a "real" candy bar for a nickel or a dime in those days.

In more recent years, things really began to get out of control with cars full of teenagers hitting every neighborhood. Dressed in normal street clothes, they carried pillow cases bulging with candy. Those teens just bang on the door and hold out those big bags then dash to the next house and once the neighborhood is clear just roll on to the next.

Trunk or treating has emerged as many folks favorite Halloween event. I'm sure you are familiar with the term.

Woodbury Church of Christ is holding their Trunk 'N Treat on Saturday, Oct. 26 at 5 p.m. It's gonna be an evening of fun, food and tons of treats. And costumes….don't forget them.

Such events are perfect for little kids. The danger presented by dashing around a neighborhood is eliminated and so is the potential for unsavory characters.

Fortunately, Halloween along High and College Streets is much like a big Trunk 'N Treat on Halloween evening. Those streets are blocked and vehicular traffic is prohibited. Throngs of kids and their parents make their way down the two streets, collecting candy along the way. It's a fun, joyful experience.

As for my own Halloween experience… Dang it, I'm just too , uh, old, uh “not young enough” to go collect candy. Besides my poor teeth just aren’t cut out to handle my favorites. But, can you even find Kraft caramels any more? Probably not.

Oh, I will be wearing my costume again this year.

Expect to see me as a bearded, bald-headed journalist, complete with camera. Maybe I should wear my fedora hat with a press card stuck behind the hatband?

Reckon not! I’ll leave that to oldtimers like Dandy Dan Whittle.

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Don't blame me. I'm not rushing the season, but I'm just here to help.

The Woodbury Lions Club is seeking homes for its annual Christmas Tour of Homes which will be held Saturday, Dec. 7.

Interested in being included on the tour? Get with it and call Bill Smith at 563-5337 or Sue Patrick at 563-1328. The list will be finalized on Nov. 8. So don't be late!

And while we are at it, downtown Woodbury's merchants met last week to discuss plans for the upcoming Country Christmas Open House scheduled for Friday, Nov. 22 and Saturday, Nov. 23.

You will have to go elsewhere (the Teasers and Trivia page to be precise) to find out exactly how many days it is until Christmas.

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On a more serious note, the Woodbury Lions Club is sponsoring a community project, "Coats for Cannon."

Lions are collecting coats of all sizes and types at Sue Patrick's CPA office at 109 Lester St. in Woodbury. Club members are asking that the coats be clean and on hangers.

The coats will be distributed to the public from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 16 at the Lions Club Building on Lehman Street. Verification of name and a local address will be required. Parents and grandparents need to bring the children to obtain a coat.

Questions? Call Sue Patrick at 563-1328.