Whether it comes from Hallmark or is heard on Main Street: It’s important to remember: white wine with candy corn and red wine with chocolate bars.
Have you made your donation to support our library’s new addition?
The Vineyard Haven library is offering an exciting virtual program called “So, You Want to Start a Cookie Business?” This is the story of the trials and tribulations of the cookie business from start to finish from Scott Serkez, former owner of Sara’s Sweets. You can Zoom in for a great story on Tuesday, Nov. 2, at 6 pm. Expect some free advice, but no samples. For this and the following Zoom program, contact amcdonough@clamsnet.org. On Saturday, Oct. 30, at 5 pm learn how a benevolent image of a wise woman transforms into a malevolent witch. Sign up for “If the Broom Fits: Halloween and the History of Witches with Grounded Goodwife.”
As the library suggests, witches are one of the most mysterious entities we associate with Halloween. When you think of a witch, it’s easy to conjure up an image of an old, ugly, hook-nosed woman, stirring up a steaming potion that is brewing away inside a cauldron. Of course, her usual sidekick, the proverbial black cat, is probably not far away. Have you ever wondered, especially on Halloween, why witches are depicted as riding on brooms through the night sky? You’re never going to look at sweeping the same way again after this event.
Ehris and her daughter Velva connect with audiences through Green Witch Workshops, Herstory Unsanitized programs and books. Funny and frank, they share their respect for Mother Nature, enthusiasm for all things green, and belief that history (and life) should never be boring.
Now I am fascinated to discover more about Herstory Unsanitized.
What is your best Halloween memory? Probably my last one spent in costume would be my choice. Imagine two 13-year-old girls in costume collecting treats, beyond their home street. We carried pillowcases — they hold more goodies. But after a few blocks a police car stopped us outside a house. We knew the young cop (whom my mother had called). But we were sad and surprised when he claimed one nearly full pillowcase for the guys at the station house. That was also the day we learned, after we got home, how hard it was to get lipstick off your face.
My favorite Halloween costume has to be the one I created for my young son. At 2-and-a-half years old, he insisted he accompany his big sister, 4 at the time, on her rounds with Daddy on our block early in the evening. I did remember he had a red cardigan with a hood. So I quickly sewed on two small red cloth horns and waved them off.
That day also was the time our kids learned that not everyone is a good guy. At that time the newspapers had told of some awful people putting razor blades and needles in apples for kids’ treats. So we began a tradition of all the candy being dumped out so we could see what was there. And also of taking away any apples — which ended up in applesauce. Before that time we always thought that apples were wonderful for a treat, but no longer allowed at Halloween.
I don’t remember a lot of gravel walkways, though I’ve found several on the Island. I have discovered that walkways covered in gravel are not only awkward, but difficult to walk on when you use a walker or anything with wheels. Now I have learned that I need to avoid those in any way I can. After a rain, they are impossible. And a gravel ramp just becomes something you need to plow through and is much less dependable than snow.
Don’t forget to support the Family to Family dinner. This provides Thanksgiving dinner, turkey with all the trimmings to needy families on the Island. Every dime raised by the Vineyard Committee on Hunger stays here on the Vineyard. Write your $25 check to Family to Family, and mail it to P.O. Box 4685, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568.
I hope I have these birthdays right as I am finally finding some of my records lost last summer.
Tomorrow big bunches of birthday balloon wishes go out to Kaylee Kuehne and Tate Buchwald. On Saturday, wish the best to Sally Leslie-Mitchell. Candles will be lit for Ann Davey on Monday. Happy birthday to Phil Wallis on Tuesday. Wednesday belongs to Emma Wajda and Maura Valley.
Heard on Main Street: Spirits rise in the fall … the goblins will get you if you don’t watch out.
