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Arts & Entertainment

An Ode to Halloween

Let's take a trip down a spooky memory lane with Marlene, as the world gets ready for trick-or-treating.

All Hallow’s Eve has come to be a kid’s holiday, but was once a date of rituals to protect people from evil spirits and the ghosts of those who may have wanted to do us harm.

It also was a celebration to remember friends and family who had passed away. Now it is more dress up, eat sweets until you throw up and tell ghost stories.  Our holiday ritual is to watch the original movie with Bella Lugosi. 

In college, Halloween was great. We had huge parties. There was always the man dressed as a pregnant nun. Several women dressed as scantily as possible, vampires, mummies and zombies roamed around. There were always a few cowboys and Indians along with the witches and ghosts. One of the ugliest sights I have ever had the misfortune to see was a very hairy All-American Wrestler dressed as Lady Godiva. Thank goodness, he did have his flowing blond wig strategically pinned.

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When I taught school, I used Halloween as a fund raiser for my art classes. For 25 cents, you could wear a costume to school. I had to do some fast talking to convince my principal, Lyle Coker at , that it would be OK. I wore a black leotard and tights with a green skirt, long tail and mouse ears that I had made. After all, the kids called me Miss Rat. 

The kids were fantastic. Such amazing make-up and get ups. They made everything. One of my students came as a fairy princess with yards of netting for a big puffy skirt. She had a wand and bopped several of the demons on the head. Three boys came as the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion. The mane had at least two skeins of yarn in it. No one was outrageous or in appropriate. They were just creative. I wish I had pictures.

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We decorated my classroom door and played Monster Mash and scary music. I was storing a small, antique coffin for a friend who was in military service.  I would set it up with a paper Mache skull and upper body. We lit candles and drew illustrations to Halloween stories the students had written earlier in the week. Some of the kids would tell ghost stories. I had candy and the kids brought even more. We were all in a sugar stupor by the end of the day.

When I think of Halloween, I think of Mama and our friends Wynelle and Dotti (AKA Pickle). I grew up in Atlanta. My parents and Dotti’s were friends before either of us was born. And, then the greatest thing in the world happened. Dotti moved next door to us. Dotti is one year and 12 days younger than I. We spent almost every day of our lives together.

Every Halloween, we would go trick-or-treating. Mama and Wynelle would force us into many more clothes than we wanted to wear and we would walk up one side of Fayetteville Road and down the other. We had a ball. Then we would pour everything out and go through all the candy. Mrs. Vickery, the school crossing guard, made caramel popcorn balls. She used lots of caramel. I am salivating thinking about them.

Daddy always had to work on Halloween. He was a School for the City of Atlanta. Vandals also loved Halloween. Dotti and I would go goblining the streets together with Mama and Wynelle close behind.

Now, what I think about is Mama and Wynelle. They spent so many Halloween nights together trailing us. Even though Dotti and I stopped trick-or-treating many decades ago, Mama and Wynelle would spend every Halloween together by phone. One or the other would call and they would visit for hours. They remembered and shared so many things. They might talk often, but you could lay money on them talking about Pickle and me on Halloween.

So this Halloween, I am going to call Dotti and toast Mama and Wynelle with half a dozen Hershey bars. 

Trick-or-treat, Pickle.

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