Halloween here is a low-key affair, centered around the children. City Hall hosts a costume contest, and our buddy Heuetta (who works at city Hall) sat on the steps with bags of candy for the kids. The event started about five in the evening, and by seven it was all over (and it was dark, with the ever-present mosquitoes).
Heuetta brought along a great collection of talking, singing and dancing Halloween characters, battery operated, and they certainly attracted the kids’ attention. If you look at our photo album, you’ll see that nearly all the eyes of the children are cast downward – checking out the funny and scary figures on the ground.
You know already that Chelsea went as a hunter and I went as a scarecrow/corn goddess. I’m still getting feedback from those who saw me in my corn goddess costume – all I can say is, it was definitely original, but it was apparently very successful. I was picking bits of straw out of my clothing for several days, and I had to wash my shirt the next day (think “itchy”).
Many of the shop owners up and down the street sat in front of their shops, with buckets of candy to give the kids, so Main St. acted like a trick-or-treat avenue. We wandered down Main St. to the Gueydan Museum where we chatted with Jane Hair, Darrel Bourque, and Glenn Gillentine for a few minutes, before the ‘skeeters’ got too bad.
Perhaps our favorite part of the evening was the haunted house put on by the Catholic Church across the street from City Hall. Sitting with Heuetta, we got to hear all the stories as the kids and their parents came across the street to City Hall. One mom related how her young son clung to her so tightly that he was choking her as she struggled to loosen his grip around her neck.
Another young boy was terrified through the entire haunted house, whispering to his mom at the end, “Mommy, I was so glad to Jesus at the end of that!” Our neighbor (and Methodist pastor), when I told him the story, said, “Well, it was certainly effective. The kids clearly got the message of salvation!”
We loved the evening – it was such a classic, family oriented, small town Halloween!