Halloween with Dad

I would have to agree with Dean on this one! Dad has always loved Halloween and perhaps that is why God gave him his own little Halloween baby! I must say that having a Halloween birthday has been a wonderful birthday indeed! As a child my parents always made sure to make this holiday and my birthday a fun time! I remember it would always start a week or so earlier with dad starting the hype to go select our pumpkin to carve.
All 4 of us would usually go to a pumpkin patch to select the “perfect pumpkin.” But the excitement was in getting it home and dad would eagerly cut the top off so he could watch us “gut” the pumpkin. He would have a whole production set up near a sink so we could sit on the counter or pull up a chair to pull out the guts and seeds of the pumpkin. He would often be caught snickering and taunting us by asking us is it “slimy” and cold, as we would pull out big handfuls of stuff and sort through the seeds to carefully set those slippery little devils onto a cookie tray to later bake. Then dad would carefully carve the face of our pumpkin each year.
He would set this out on the front porch with a candle inside for Halloween night awaiting reactions to our masterpiece. Then the next phase of preparation was selecting our costumes for the big day. It was not like kids have today where you just go to a store and pick one out, we created our own back in our day! We would take something we had in our closet or mom would concoct a creative outfit for us. Then we would await the big night to dress up and go trick or treating.
Mom and Dad would allow me to have a Birthday party or slumber party on top of going out trick or treating. Each year mom would make her specialty chocolate cake with caramel icing, my favorite! So, finally Halloween would come (and each year it changes days) so it was always great when it fell on a weekend because that meant the celebration continued longer.
When I was younger we would also take some time to go to the Jaycee Haunted House which they were very much apart of. They would spend I think the whole month decorating and planning for that thing, so even though those would scare me to death we would go. I would get the sneak preview before they would begin all the “scary” stuff. Dad would take us kids through each room to show us all their work and creations and the “scare factor.” I can remember a few times when I got older I was brave enough to try it with all the effects in full bloom and let me tell you to this day I will never forget what I experienced one year. It was so scary with the floor under you moving, and spiders above you falling nearly colliding with your head, and arms reaching out to grab you, and disappearing images all around, and the screams that you heard in the room you were just about to enter. Dad would always say it wasn’t a good haunted house until someone fell to the floor in fear and “peed themselves.”
I don’t know about you but after seeing the movie Monsters Inc. and the “Scare Factor” idea
I thought now dad could have come up with that, after all I saw him as the One that was able
to scare even those people that seemed so tough, he could get them to jump and let out a scream. As the years rolled on and dad would take these haunted houses from town to town where we would live, being involved and usually the head guru in charge to create the ultimate scare factor centers. He also was the master of scaring others even when it wasn’t Halloween. Like Dean said he would often try to catch us off guard around corners, or doors or in closets, and even as a child when we played hide and seek, he had hiding places where we never did find him. I to this day am not sure how a man of his stature could hide from us kids!?
Dad loves to get a reaction from others whether it’s a scream or a laugh or just to make them laugh at themselves, he is a master at all of these! He is able to take someone’s vulnerabilities and turn them into something they can laugh at within themselves. For instance, one particular friend we have loves to shop and she usually likes more items than she can decide on, so dad points this out and makes it obvious that the best thing to do would be to buy two of everything! So, that resolves that, she does buy two of everything when the decision is just simply too hard to make, why not!?
His other favorite thing to do is to get those “women” especially who are “faint of heart” which he usually does by hiding his pet “motorized” rat
under a nearby table to make it’s appearance at just the exact moment to get the ultimate high pitched scream followed by his howl of glee and pleasure that once again his “little plan” worked to get the shrieking reaction he desired.
Now his latest haunted house experience was held in Orlando, Florida where yes, the “No sayers” told dad that the community just wouldn’t be interested in a haunted house, and indeed he proved them wrong for several years already. He had such a crowd the first year that I believe they had to extend the hours and dates to open up more time for all those who came to get a chance to go through the haunted house. The community rallied and many got involved in this production either by volunteering to help out in a “room” as each group was assigned a room to decorate and staff for the various nights it was open. They also had a haunted hayride around the Orista Bay community which was connected to the Park for a great way to tie the haunted house area to the haunted hay ride route.






The line to get into these events takes hours, but well worth the “scare factor” you get in return! One year dad had all of us involved along with neighbors and friends to help enjoy the fun! We all were decked out in costumes, masks, black outfits for the ability to hide better in the night. Dean and I would jump out and scream or I would use the blower on those passing by on the hay wagon while it made the sound of a chain saw, scaring them to death.
One year I even came up with a younger helper, who thought it would be so much fun to be involved! We drove 3 hours up to Orlando to be there in time for the 1st haunted hay wagon to makes it way past my folk’s house. She hid in a box with only her head poking out, and beat the sides yelling, “Let me out of here.” While I chased the hay wagon dragging a rake yelling, “I’m going to get you, my pretties” dressed as a witch. I would not allow any photos of me dressed this way to be taken, because I would only do this for my daddy!
Many special events have I organized and I owe that largely due to my dad’s encouragement and ideas! As Dean stated dad is a member of the Punxsutawney Phil Ground Hog Club. He encouraged me to offer a Ground Hog Day Celebration here where I work at a Recreation Center, so I did. I had a 5 foot by 5 foot tree stump made by our Parks Crew and found a stuffed ground hog puppet to make it’s grand appearance for all the pre-school age kids to witness!

And other great events sparked by my Dad!
Dr. Seuss Celebration - Breakfast with Santa
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Ellen
(Editors Note- Some pictures have yet to be loaded for this post- still working on that)