October 31, 2025- The idea of staging our Post 6 Trick or Treat Table on the corner sidewalk “paid off” handsomely: At least a hundred people stopped by and partook of candy, which was distributed, for the most part, by the fistful. Tiny tots and babies were fairly present. No one was trick or treating with a costumed dog, so that is an improvement. Mostly, though, the revelers were between the ages of 7-70.

I barely missed the older, and less flamboyant, version of All Hallows Eve: Samhain, still widely celebrated by people in Ireland, Scotland, Isle of Man and some parts of Wales, is also celebrated by Wiccans in England and other countries. The gist of the day is to honour the dead and guard against malevolence. There was some costuming, also called “mumming”, and going door to door for food, but those were secondary to the above focuses. Bonfires were common on Samhain, in pre-Christian Britain and Ireland. Putting a candle inside a hollowed-out pumpkin was more a function of helping revelers find their way, on darkened streets. A hollowed out turnip was also used for this purpose. Dressing up as devils or ghouls is more of an aberration, in modern Halloweens, and would have been abhorred by the Celtic pagans.

I have observed Halloween, in a conventional manner, most years since I was six and could go about on my own. I recall that the plastic masks caused my face to sweat profusely, almost every year. By the time I was fourteen, I decided to give up trick or treating and focused more on handing out goodies. On my own, in places as sparsely populated as South Deerfield, MA and Toltec City, AZ, kids knocked at my door and were welcomed with treats. So, this year was no different and given the vibrant Halloween celebrations on Mount Vernon Street and Park Street, it is a joy to hand out treats at the American Legion post, as I’ve done every year that I’ve been in Prescott, since 2015. (Before that, my north Prescott house, then my apartment, were just too far off the beaten path for most revelers.)

Whatever one’s view of Halloween, let us honour our departed loved ones just as we do on Memorial Day or on their individual special days.