Halloween is right around the corner, and we are ready for the little ghosties and ghoulies here at the Lendennie Homestead. As we do every year, we have decorated the outside of the house with scarecrows, pumpkins, mums and gourds. And of course, granny on her broomstick smashed into the light pole.
I have wonderful memories of Halloween from my childhood. It was a much bigger holiday then, with mothers and grandmothers spending weeks making what they hoped would be the outstanding costumes at the community Halloween parade. After the awards had been given for best costumes, there were games and prizes and sweet treats and fun for the entire family.
Halloween was not just celebrated on Oct. 31 back then. Trick-or-treaters came to the door through the entire month of October, from as far away as Springfield and St. Louis. We kept a running tally of how many we had and where they were from, and the number was always in the hundreds by the end of the night on Halloween.
And, of course, we always kept the Sunday before Halloween free to trick-or-treat for UNICEF. Everbody did, and we saw all our friends out collecting money for the benefit of pour and sick children around the world.
Then on Halloween night, we were out again with our friends and all our parents. Dad drove the car, as did all the other dads, and Mom joined the other moms and the kids on the sidewalk. There were always so many people out you could barely walk, and we formed into large groups with our friends from school.
Afterword, we would eat candy until we were sick and fall asleep in the living room floor, only to find ourselves tucked safely in bed when we woke the next morning, and the rest of the candy in bags on the dresser.
Out here in the country, we just don't have that many trick-or-treaters. One year we had 10, but most years if we get one, we are lucky. But I will be out on the porch on Halloween night, with a cauldron of candy and Dancing Drac, waiting to greet those of you who do come by. Please do stop, the light will be on and we will be waiting for you!
As some of you may know, when Amy Loo won best of show in youth sewing at the District Fair in Jonesboro, we decided to enter her skirt in the State Fair. Never having been to the state fair before, I ordered a fair book. I was surprised to learn that anyone living in Arkansas can enter any category of the State Fair without even having entered anything in the county or district fair. I was surprised because I had specifically asked fair officials in Jonesboro what you had to win to go to state, and they told me you had to have a best of show at district fair.
Anyway, I went through the fair book and was able to enter Amy's skirt, Austin's artwork and photography by Amy, Scott and Leah. And we did better than I ever would have imagined. Amy won best of show in youth sewing; Austin won best of show in youth art. Leah won first place and third place in Junior Youth Photography; Scott won fifth place and eighth place in Junior Youth Photography; and Amy won first place in Youth Photography.
The Cooperative Extension and the 4-H program will be reminding everyone next spring about entering the state fair. You can submit your entries by email or fax from May until Sept. 11. If you do, they will have your tags ready when you get there later in the month to submit your exhibits. We are hoping to have a number of children and youth from Mississippi County enter the state fair Creative Arts competitions next year.
And again, early voting is still taking place for the general election. If you haven't voted yet, please make the commitment to do so. The issues we face over the next several years are too important to leave them to chance.
plen@rittermail.com