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Column: Halloween excitement builds as candy bowl empties

In Plain View by Lachlan Labere
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On the top shelf in our pantry is a large, steel bowl filled with about 7 lbs of candy.

Why is the bowl on the top shelf? In theory, it’s to make it less accessible to my son.

Unfortunately, I can reach it, which is bad news for our inventory of peanut M&Ms.

Despite the advanced onset of candy bowl depletion, I anticipate there’ll be enough treats to hand out on Halloween. Meanwhile, excitement at the Labere household for Halloween continues to build.

I have a deep love for Halloween thanks, I believe, to my parents, who made the night something of an event on our block. While my mom stayed home handing out treats to costumed visitors, my dad would take my brother and me out trick-or-treating – rain or no (as we lived in Vancouver, there were some wet Halloweens). Afterwards, neighbours would come over to our place for a little fireworks show. Hot chocolate was handed out to kids, something stronger to the adults, and for about 15 to 20 minutes our block would be illuminated by explosions of light in the sky.

Read more: In photos: Downtown Treat Trails of Halloween’s past

Read more: Word on the street: What is your Halloween costume this year?

Read more: Ghosts of Spooktacular’s past: Get into the Halloween spirit this weekend at RJ Haney Heritage Village

Needless to say, I am also a big fan of Downtown Salmon Arm’s treat trail. I love seeing the sidewalks teaming with costumed kids (and parents), I love the creativity that goes into some of the costumes and I love the energy the event brings to the downtown – and to my work day, as photographing the treat trail is one of the duties of my job that I enjoy most.

After work, it’s race home to have dinner, get the pumpkins lit and outside, and get our son ready in his costume for our evening out. Our neighbourhood, as we’ve learned, is pretty popular on Halloween night – it’s like the treat trail all over again, only I’m holding my son’s hand (or candy bag) instead of a camera. Part of the fun is checking out all the decorated houses, and there are some good ones.

At this point, I must express my love and gratitude to my wife, who stays home Halloween night to hand out treats to our costumed visitors. It’s an important task, and that big silver bowl needs to be emptied so our son can refill it with his trick-or-treating haul.


@SalmonArm
newsroom@saobserver.net

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