Who has that feel good Halloween memory? I do, I do. I can’t remember the year, but I was under ten years of age and one of the best houses for trick or treat was near Belmar Gardens (a co-op east of Pittsburgh). This house was known for giving out red taffy apples. You had to get there early and sometimes stand in line. I felt so privileged to get one and sometimes would take it home and start out again to get more candy. On Halloween, the streets would be packed. We didn’t have fear and we could go out alone or sometimes my father would go with me. There was not a real fear of razors in apples or poison candy however there was a strict rule in the Norrell household that we could not eat the candy until we brought it home and it was checked. In most cases, the apples were made into a pie by my mom and the oranges were cut into sections for us to eat. It was a good time. Often, we got full-size candy bars and bags of chips and one house gave out small cartons of Lemon Blend. I think the father in that house worked for the company. One year there was a rash of “bag snatching.” The older boys would snatch the bags of the little kids. I carried a large hammer that year and it kept the kids from snatching my bag. Eventually, I was too old to trick or treat but just the right age to hand out the candy. That was fun because I could see the kids and their costumes up close. Unfortunately, Halloween and trick or treating took a turn for the worse, and kids were forced to trick or treat in the mall or go to a community party. They don’t know what they are missing and what good times we had in our homemade costumes and eating candy for weeks on end. If your neighborhood participates in trick or treat join in and let the kids enjoy the innocence of years gone by and always give them something good to eat.
Email the columnist at debbienorrell@aol.com
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