Last Updated: Thursday, November 6, 2008 9:08 AM CST
News : The view from my stump
Jimmy Koch
Correspondent
(Newald News) - This is yet another one of life’s little lessons.
It was Pete Jobelius’ idea. The town board voted to change Halloween trick or treating versus a Halloween party. The party won out.
I was opposed to it, but decided to go along with it – majority rules. On Thursday, we decorated the community center with bales of straw, corn stalks, carved pumpkins and construction paper bats hanging from the ceiling.
Friday, everybody was suppose to bring their candy to the center. I put my candy, pop and toothbrush (yes, it is my tradition to give a toothbrush out along with the rest of the goodies) in a brown paper bag. I wrote ‘Boo!’ on the bag and signed my name.
The party was suppose to start at 5 p.m. and last until 7 p.m. So I put on my best orange T-shirt and black jeans and went to deliver my “treats.”
I wasn’t going to stay long because my nose was slightly out of joint. I was disappointed in the change of tradition. At any rate, everybody else seemed to be in a good mood and I did want to see the kids in their costumes.
It started out pretty quiet. There were second thoughts about this “good idea.” When it got dark the kids of all ages showed up. Before I knew it, I was having all kinds of fun talking with my adult friends and neighbors. We out-numbered the real kids about three to one.
I mentioned to one mom who had raised four kids about the fact that this lacked tradition. She in turn told me about a few experiences she had trying to trick or treat in the rain, wind and snow. It all made sense. Perhaps this was a better idea.
The kids were having a great time bobbing for apples, decorating miniature pumpkins, guessing how many candy corns there were in a pint jar. I know I was having a great time watching all this transpire.
As the party wound down and we were cleaning up we all agreed that next year would be bigger and better. We even formed a committee to meet the third Saturday of each month. It is called the Community Committee. It is going to be a pot luck. It will be something positive to do in the dead of winter. We will plan fundraisers to raise money for more parties and other things our little community needs.
After I got home and had time to mull over what had just happened, I realized that if you don’t give it a chance, you will never have a chance to change your point of view. And that’s the view from my stump.
P.S. A special thank you should go out to Amy Jobelius for all the work she did to make this event a success.
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