It’s the last week in October and you know what that means – Halloween!
By now, you have your costume. I may drag out the nun’s habit, although when I wore it at Mater Christi School, where I once was a teacher, I had to explain the costume. Since I go for the cutesy kind of things for Halloween our ghost and with are smiley, and the scarecrows aren’t scary. Our pumpkins are not carved because they are not real, much to the disappointment of the squirrels.
If you really want scary decorations you need to go into North Riverside, specifically the two blocks on Forest Avenue off 22nd Street. There you will find a dose of fright for the night. The project of resident Mark Sajatovic and his neighbor Jim Currie and almost everyone who lives on the street, consists of a multitude of spooky decorations. Sajatovic began setting up the Halloween displays almost 20 years ago for a party and it continued on from there, much to the delight and fright of all who see it.
The decorations go beyond bony skeletons and graveyards. There are special effects, including a mist and fog machine amid the coffins to lend to the eerie surroundings. If ghosts and goulies aren’t enough to get you shaking in your shoes watch out for the costumed people moving around. If you think you see someone moving and wonder if they are real, they probably are – at least we hope so. If you see some people dressed as police, they are the police. So don’t try to scare them.
Haven’t bought your pumpkin yet? It isn’t too late to go to the Riverside United Methodist Church on Woodside Road, across from Hauser Junior High, and visit its pumpkin patch. The pumpkins were grown by Navajo Native-Americans and proceeds from the sale will go back to the Native-Americans.
This is your last week for area farmers’ markets so stock up or start canning and freezing. One of the nicest parts of the farmers’ markets is getting out and visiting with friends and meeting the vendors.
Congrats to all who worked on making the markets a success. We look forward to next year. And as for me, this is the year I learned to cook beets and had the red fingers to prove it.
