What is your top-rated Halloween memory?

Caroline Monday - A stitch in Halloween time

At the time, I never realized it, but my sister and I had the best Halloween costumes on the block. Our mom, the best mom on the block, made them all.

As we were growing up, she sewed outfits for us all the time. Clothes for the first day of school, Easter dresses, you name it, she sewed it.

From her example I have learned a few things about sewing. I can hem a skirt that’s too long or mend a hole or replace a zipper. I can make throw pillows till the cows come home. However, none of my attempts at stitchery come close to the feats she pulled every Halloween when she made our annual costumes.

Each year we would go to the fabric store to pick out patterns and material for our costumes. I remember being a witch, Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz (complete with ruby slippers), Minnie Mouse and an ensign from Star Trek, just to name a few.

There was none of this going to the store and purchasing ill-fitting, cheaply made costumes for the Monday girls; no fashioning outfits out of found objects like tin foil and cardboard boxes.

It never occurred to me that everybody’s mom didn’t do the same as mine. I didn’t have the foresight to ask my mom to teach me how, so I can do the same for my children someday.

I guess I should start learning to be prepared when that day comes. Either that or find a husband who can sew.

Melanie Davis - Carving out new art

Halloween has never been big on my list of favorite holidays. I have never been trick-or-treating and the events to warrant a Halloween costume have been few and far between since leaving elementary school.

There is one tradition, however, I participate in every year. Jack-o-lantern carving is a must. As usual, I got over zealous and carved a pumpkin too early. I have had to throw that edition out already, though it gives me the opportunity to carve another. According to the USDA, one billion pounds of pumpkins are produced annually in the U.S., so I don’t think carving two is wasteful.

I like toasted pumpkin seeds as a snack, so that is an added tradition of pumpkin carving. As soon as the orange gourd is empty, I put the salted seeds in the oven. By the time I am lighting the candle in my Jack-o-lantern, the seeds are perfectly toasted.

Over the years, I have done the traditional faces, printed the overly complex patterns from the Internet (these usually result is large chunks of pumpkin falling out to my disgust), and just randomly cut designs. Personally, I prefer to carve design all around the pumpkin for a full lantern feel.

Mark Mitchell- Bittersweet at best

The best of Halloween for me is bittersweet because it also brings to light a regret I have for today’s youth ... the experience of neighborhood trick-or-treating. It’s a practice that was exciting, suspenseful and joyful for me as a child. Heading out in the neighborhood, armed with the biggest bag I could find, and knocking on neighbor’s doors with my best friends.

Which path should you take? Will the homeowners be in costume? Would spooky music be playing. Would you get Tootsie Rolls (hooray) or an apple (aagh). It was a magical time to head out on Halloween night.

Unfortunately, in many communities, trick-or-treating has changed. The ultimate candy exploration now occurs in malls, in school buildings or in other well-lit, sterile, and controlled establishments. Do I understand why? Yes. Safety concerns necessitate that parents and communities take the appropriate precautions. I just wish that these precautions were not necessary, and that today’s children could head out for a magical Halloween night on the town.

Sherrie Norris- Avery Treats

I grew up in a safe Avery County neighborhood “back in the day” when trick-or-treating was a treat, and the only real tricks to report were mainly cars being egged, trees toilet-paper wrapped, etc. I do recall hearing about a “not-so-nice” trick when the more mischevious older boys on the other side of the county filled paper bags full of barnyard refuse, placed them on front porches of perhaps not their most favorite teacher or neighbor , struck a match to the bags as they quickly rang the doorbell and ran for their lives. Naturally, when the homeowner came to the door and saw something burning, he immediately began stomping out the fire, which resulted, I’m sure in his anger becoming much hotter than the fire itself. I do remember one year when a reclusive sort of lady in our neighborhood had to have been the one who placed rocks in my bag instead of candy. I could never prove it, but in retrospect, as I went through that highly anticipated sorting process upon returning home, I recalled that my loot bag seemed heavier after I had left her trailer and could still see her almost sinister smile as she dropped her “treat” into my bag.

Jeff Eason - I was a third-grade Batman

My favorite all-time Halloween costume was when I was in third grade in Milton, Florida and my mom made me an outstanding Batman costume. My brother Greg, being second grader, had to settle for Robin, the Boy Wonder. “Holy sibling rivalry, Batman!”

My costume came complete with a mask with bat ears, a black cape, tights and even a utility belt…even though I was sorely lacking gizmos. My brother’s costume was just as well made, but didn’t convey the same sense of serious crime-fighting ability. Maybe that’s because green and yellow don’t have the same gravitas as blue and black.

I love how kids follow trends with their choices of Halloween costumes. A few years back I saw dozens of little Harry Potters running around downtown Boone for the annual Halloween Festival and last year pirates seemed to be quite en vogue amongst the pre-teen set. I wonder what it will be this year?