Halloween in a handcart?
By Karen Jones
Party table from my GA home where 98% of the invitees didn't show.
Halloween is coming up soon and I am left to wonder how many bags of candy to buy. This situation makes me do a risk assessment. I have no idea how many kids will be coming by my door this year. I don’t want to over purchase on the candy just to be stuck with loads of leftover chocolate to thicken my waistline. This wasn’t always the case.
Take a time travel device and set if for the ‘70s. Back then there were hoards of trick-or-treaters mobbing the streets and my mother was constantly refilling the orange-colored bowl with candies to hand out to the kids. Come back to 2009 and realize that you are more likely to see tumbleweeds rolling down the neighborhood streets than teams of costumed children.
However, living on an Air Force Base (AFB) is whole different world on Halloween. The years that I have lived on a base, it was like the “good ol’ days” again. Perhaps it is because there is security at the entry gates and a sense of swift consequences for any crimes committed on the federal property; nevertheless, base housing brings out the crowds on Halloween. Even non-military families ask their military friends to help them get on base so they can join in on the crowds, too. People just seems to feel safer there than out in the general public.
We were recently stationed at Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C., for two years. Both of those Halloweens were rockin’. Even if someone’s faith discouraged celebrating the holiday, there was a “Harvest Party” over on one of the soccer fields to enjoy. But the real action was in all the base housing areas. I remember the legions of children and parents filling the wide streets like it was Mardi Gras or something. It would get particularly thick in Officer Housing because it was rumored they had the higher quality candy (not true, by the way).
Another site for sore eyes was the families who would band together in one front yard to visit and hand out candy at the same time. People recognized each other’s neighbors and were glad to see them. The communing families were being lively and admiring all the fantastic costumes and creativity that the night inspired. Hell, even many of the grown-ups were dressed-up. Talk about some great photo opportunities (and blackmail material)!
This revelry lasted for the entire two hours that the base officials had sanctioned.
Right now, my family doesn’t live on Robins AFB, GA. We live in a pleasant suburban neighborhood just south of the base. Yes, it is a nice community, but we don’t really know our neighbors—just a few. If last year is any indication of this year’s festivities, I know that just a couple of bags, if that many, should cover the demand. If memory serves, I think there was maybe 45 minutes of sporadic clumps of kids. Also, I saw some SUVs driving kids around, stopping in intervals, waiting for the kids to go hit a few doors, and then they reloaded into the car. Repeat. I guess the children couldn’t be bothered to walk around with the street people. That was it and we rolled up our sidewalks for the night. Boo!