Halloween Count

[Towntalk]

Sure do. The lady next door made sugar cookies that were big as saucers that we all looked forward to, my cousins and I also enjoyed going up to my Uncles house where we were treated to hot coco and home made jelly sandwitches. Another Aunt and Uncle was another stop. She had been a trapeze flyer with Cole Brothers Circus and there we all got large bags of hot buttered popcorn in circus bags.

When we got home, mother always had a dish of homemade seafoam candy and fudge for us.

[Shar]

Sounds like fond memories of Halloween Towntalk.      I am a little younger than you, my trick or treat days were in the 1960's.  I grew up in Russel, PA, population 350.  We also told ghost stories and we were invited into each house for treats while the owners tried to "guess" who we were.  At the time we thought we had pretty good costumes and they didn't recognise us, silly kids!!  The treats were donuts, homemade cookies, candied apples, popcorn balls etc., very little candy.  The world has sure changed since then.

[Towntalk]

Funny Shar, I also came from a small Pennsylvania town ... Clearfield ... and when I war a child the war was on ... { WW2} ... and before we went out to trick 'n treat all of the kids in our neighborhood would gather in our back yard for a glass of home made cider and a doughnut, and listen to ghost stories ... usually one or two that my Dad would tell and then we were off, BUT, we wouldn't go any further than a couple of blocks, ending up at "the haunted house on Cemetary Hill" where the gentleman that lived there would treat us to another ghost story and more cider.

[northside lurker]

When I moved to the city, I was very surprised that the city had trick or treat from 5-7, considering its bad reputation.  I grew up in the suburbs of Canton/Massillon and, even when I was a kid in the 80's, our trick or treat times were from 3-5 at the latest. (And it was usually on a Saturday or Sunday, regardless of what day Halloween was.)

I also agree with Shar that it would be unfortunate for the good kids if trick or treat were ended all together.  I didn't recognize most of the kids who stopped by our group, but just about all of them were sincere and appeared to be having fun.  I don't remember any thugs...

[Shar]

I agree that safety is a concern these days.  I grew up in a very small town in Pennsylvania and when we went trick or treating, we knew the people at every house that we went to.  It is very different today.  Most people really don't know the kids in their neighborhood.   However both my hubby and I had a great time this year with the kids.  Probably 80% of the kids that came to our house had a parent or other adult with them.  Most all were right from our neighborhood.  Even if the City decided to stop the trick or treating, the older kids are going to pile into a car and go to an area where there is trick or treating.  I can't imagine that all areas will stop the practice. 

[Towntalk]

Shar, why aren't halloween parties in school, and area churches good enough? They are safe ... they are well organized ... and the parients don't have to worry about the safety of the candy or their childred...no child mugged for his or her candy.

When I was in elementry school the Halloweed parties were sponsored by the PTA's and were really fun. Also the Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts have halloween parties, or at least they use to, so there is no lack of ways to trick or treat.

Remember that Halloween is a commercial holiday whose sole purpose is to make money for candy makers and costumers.

[Shar]

Sorry, I don't agree.  I know that I had tons of fun as a kid on Halloween. I don't think that we should let a few "bad" trick or treaters spoil it for all of the kids.  Most all of our 90 kids were from our neighborhood and we had no problems.  I do think that all of the communities should have the trick or treat hours on the same day and time.  That would eliminate the ability to go to Boardman one night and Youngstown the next night.  I also think that having the time from 4:00 to 6:00 helped this year because we didn't have nearly as many older kids as usual because they were all "daylight" hours.  It seems to me that the older kids like to go out after dark. 

[jay]

There was also a trick-or-treat event at the Covelli Centre over the weekend.  Maybe our city should do away with trick-or-treat in the neighborhoods and only use the Covelli Centre in the future.
Does anyone agree?

[Towntalk]

Can't say that I blame you for being angry Connie. All the more reason why Trick 'N Treat should be stopped and Halloween Parties run by responsable organizations that can supervise them organized.

If we all started to refuse to participate and all the "scum" saw nothing but unanswered doors, and had to go back home empty handed, we'd all be better off.

[connie254]

We had about 100 in my development. Everyone who lives in this development walked with their children in the street(no sidewalks). About 6:30, two cars pulled into the development and the "hood" came pouring out of each of them. They were adults, carrying shopping bags, no attempt at anything Halloween( any makeup, outfit, saying trick-or-treat)  except grabbing candy. My husband, who was in the middle of our driveway, had a bowl of candy handing them out to the children when these scumbags came in between the kids and my husband and  grabbed a handful and moved on. I was standing on the front porch because my knee was hurting. They stood out like a sore thumb and everyone watched them. Only wish something could be done to keep the travelers out because like someone else said, they are up to no good.

10 bags of candy handed out.

When I lived on the southside, I had 2 bowls of candy, one good and one not so good candy. If I knew the kid, or the parent made the effort to come near the porch to tell them to say "trick or treat", they got the good candy. If they resembled the people that traveled to my development, they got the not-so-good candy.

[kenneyjoe330]

Here in Lansingville we had about 19 this year - we had 60 last year.  We give the candy out at the bottom of the driveway so no one does porch steps - too easy for kids to trip and fall.  We think the recent drive by shooting - late last week - which was about 300 feet or so from our homes might have had something to do with the amount of kids.  We all agreed the kids that did come actually live in our neighborhood.  It was also the first time in about 10 years that we did not have a Block Watch Car give out chips and patrol the area - some times things just don't work out the way it used to be. The few little ones came with parents and the little older neighborhood kids came in groups of five or so.  Near the end we were giving out candy by the hand load and my daughter and I still took some to work.  So dats the count from Lansingville - Youngstown's most recent action packed place to lay your head down.

[northside lurker]

A group of us get together to give out candy at the neighbor's house, at the corner of S. Lakeview and Olson, near the park entrance.  So, no one has to open their door. (though, that's not why we do it that way)  I think our numbers were low becasue we couldn't see many other houses on Lakeview giving out candy, and kids didn't go out of their way to find our group.

[sfc_oliver]

In Lowellville we had numbers in the hundreds, Police and fire were up and down the street, and most groups had adults with them. My best guess is somewhere in between 300 and 500. we were very crowded from 5 PM until about 6:25 it slowed down some but they kept coming right up until 7PM.

We do not have that many children living in Lowellville........

[Shirley]

I live in the St. Brendan's area and we had about 60 kids. Lots of little ones.

[Towntalk]

What about just having community Halloween parties at area churches and community centers for the little rug rats and ban door to door trick or treating.

Personally I don't welcome trick or treaters, and don't leave lights on. Rather I use the money that I wouuld spend on candy to send to the Rescue Mission and Salvation Army.