General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWe had only 180 trick or treaters this Hallowe'en.
Last edited Sun Nov 2, 2014, 11:19 AM - Edit history (1)
That's down from just over 200 last year. It was quite cold, which is probably the reason. We know how many because we give out full-size candies, and know how many we started with.
All the children were very polite and said thank you. Most had parents with them who stayed out on the sidewalk. Fun times!
badtoworse
(5,957 posts)Maybe it's not as popular as it used to be. When I was a kid, just about everyone went trick or treating
MineralMan
(146,325 posts)are Hmong children. It seems like the Hmong community has taken up the holiday as their own. I'd guess that 60% of our visitors were from that community.
Gothmog
(145,487 posts)The final tally was five Elsas and 3 Annas
Smarmie Doofus
(14,498 posts)... ( perfectly good) apples from an "apple-picking" trip I was forced to go on two weeks ago.
Broke 'em out when the mini Almond Joys began to run out. I was like the panicky Quasimodo in the Hunchback of ND.... scrambling around to find something to use as a weapons to keep the mob at bay in the last scene..... til his eyes hit in the *boiling oil*!
I'm going to the movies next year.
Generic Other
(28,979 posts)Guess she skeered all the Trick-or-Treaters away! Cause I didn't see any!
MineralMan
(146,325 posts)gave out Bible tracts on Halloween. We only went to her house one time. After that year, we just skipped the house. Earthworms are a strange thing to hand out, though.
Mariana
(14,860 posts)when we lived in Texas. She considered them a prime item and would even trade candy for them with the other kids. Chick tracts are uniquely entertaining, though. Most other Bible tracts are boring.
MineralMan
(146,325 posts)Bible Comics with a sinister touch. They're so over the top, they count as entertainment.
My favorite of all time, though, is the "Death Cookie" one.
http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0074/0074_01.asp
FLPanhandle
(7,107 posts)However, we live in hard to get to neighborhood with no children around. Those two little ones cleaned up though.
NutmegYankee
(16,201 posts)There was a light rain falling much of the night.
Baitball Blogger
(46,755 posts)in late at night, trying to relive the last of their childhood.
But Halloween fell on a Friday, so maybe they were lured to other age appropriate festivities.
liberalhistorian
(20,819 posts)to enjoy the children and brighten their evening, which is really what it's all about. Good for you for making it fun and special for them, not everyone reacts that way to Halloween (we always knew who the "grumps" in our neighborhood were as kids, and my son and I always knew who they were in our own neighborhood when he was growing up).
We didn't have ANY. NONE. We live on a remote, rural Indian reservation in South Dakota and our new neighborhood doesn't have sidewalks. Last year, the reservation town we were living in had sidewalks, wasn't quite as rural, and we had a ton of kids (our dog had a field day with petting and attention, lol). I love giving out candy and seeing the costumes and the kids and interacting with them and it was such a disappointment. It's the first time in my life I never had any trick or treaters at all. The only good thing is that the many homeless street people here in town are going to get a real treat, which they badly need, since we have a ton of candy that we don't know what to do with and really shouldn't keep around if we don't want to get sick or get diabetes (we're chocoholics).
MineralMan
(146,325 posts)We see kids out at play all year, even in the depths of winter. Halloween is a favorite day for us, since we get so many visitors. Our dogs think it's great, too, although their not allowed out to greet the children.
SoCalDem
(103,856 posts)packman
(16,296 posts)We were so exhausted, we just had to stop. Started giving out 3 pieces per kid, then two, then one to make them last. They came in groups of 10 at times. Then again, our neighborhood is like a Halloween buffet with house crowded against house. Our across the street neighbor went hog-wild with sound effects (howling, screeching), cemetery tombstones on the front lawn, spider webbing, lighting and drew them in like flies to honey.
But it was fun to see the kids and even some adults with clever costumes -
MineralMan
(146,325 posts)Interestingly, here in St. Paul, MN, the activity always starts about 6 PM and is completely over by 8 PM. That helps.
tavernier
(12,396 posts)My SIL has the house you described on that street. We had a huge crowd, since his decorations were written up in the local paper earlier in the week. I passed candy while the rest of the family worked the haunted yard. Fun!
cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)eom
Tikki
(14,559 posts)this year RAIN and plenty of it....
Tikki
cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)eom
FiveGoodMen
(20,018 posts)lunasun
(21,646 posts)Instead of saying happy Halloween or trick or treat . Told the kids you will remember this one. The kids came home with big bags of candy folks were trying to get rid of it so few out and about
fishwax
(29,149 posts)I don't have any idea how many kids came to our door, but the first set was about 3:30 and the last was about 7. We left shortly after that, so I don't know if there would have been more. And we were gone for big chunks in the middle while we took our own little one out and about--which meant we had a lot of leftover candy.
rurallib
(62,441 posts)and we have lived in this neighborhood for 30+ years and watched it go from an area with lots of kids to one with mostly oldies.
in a 3 block area there were only 4 houses giving treats. If I was a kid, I would go elsewhere also.
Rainforestgoddess
(436 posts)They take a door on a frame up to a house, when the people open the door, they often knock on my son's door, then they open it up and hand candy to the homeowners.
So they get the fun even as young adults.
TNNurse
(6,929 posts)Fun, clever and thoughtful. I wonder if it would work at a retirement center.
WaitWut
(71 posts)Last night I stayed home and handed out candy.
It was a marvelous night. Clear and cool, it was a wonderful to just sit out on the driveway and talk to the nieghbors. I thought to myself in the next few years as the kids start growing up it will be fun to reverse trick or treat to keep up that spirit of community.
ChazII
(6,205 posts)and unique. I think it would work at a senior home/nursing home as long as the candy was sugarless.
christx30
(6,241 posts)However, we only had 2 trick or treaters come to the door. We were giving out temporary tatoos, pencils, and goldfish craackers, because we know a lot of kids have food allergies and diabetes.
But my kids seriously cleaned up this year. An embarrassment of riches. My work was doing a trick or treat here in the office, so we came to the call center and in 45 minutes, we got half of what we got total. Their buckets were full.
In all, we got 13.7 lbs of candy. It's all up on a shelf where the kids can't get to it.
GReedDiamond
(5,316 posts)...a Lucky Baldwin Victorian on the west side of Pasadena CA.
The house is on a street with a lot of foot traffic on any given day, including a lot of families with kids.
Naturally, we had the first significant rainfall in months, on Halloween night.
I had enough candy in ziploc baggies for 70 kids...got 8 through the whole night, all in one group.
I have lots of leftover stuff I don't know what to do with.
Next year I guess I won't bother.
senseandsensibility
(17,113 posts)and can relate to the rain. We got an eighth of our usual turnout and are stuck with lots of leftover candy... You will get more next year.
FSogol
(45,519 posts)Are baby boys still being born? Is it still 50% plus or minus?
MineralMan
(146,325 posts)There may have been more girls than boys, and the only teens we saw were girls in groups of two or three. One pair was asking for canned goods for some charity drive, so we emptied our pantry into their pillowcases. I'll have to go to the store to restock.
FSogol
(45,519 posts)"Scouting for Food." They'll be back next Saturday to pick up all the bags.
MineralMan
(146,325 posts)postal workers pick up non-perishables, I make a special trip to the supermarket, just for that. But, we always keep some canned goods and other non-perishable foods in our pantry. We don't eat them. We just keep them around for food drives.
FSogol
(45,519 posts)Shrike47
(6,913 posts)LWolf
(46,179 posts)that it was Halloween as soon as I left work. Spending all day with 90 students tightly wound in anticipation for the after school events was Halloween enough for me.
I don't get trick or treaters; living rurally on a private dirt road with almost no neighbors tends to discourage that. I hope our kids had fun; along with all of the anticipation was a great deal of concern on the adults' part, because it rained all day.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,818 posts)That might be because I made the mistake of buying some Almond Joys and I ate most of them myself. The best costumes were a Dalek and a Bunch of Grapes (a kid with a lot of purple balloons fastened to himself). Most of the kids were accompanied by parents, some of whom also wore costumes, which was cool. But we'd have hated that - Halloween was a time to run free all over the neighborhood, wherever we wanted to go, and collect candy without grownups hovering around. I guess that just isn't done any more.
heaven05
(18,124 posts)have participated in years. I must admit some of the costumes were 'scary' and outrageous. I did not have that many myself, it was cold and wet. The last stragglers were able to grab handfuls from my baskets. They were really happy and giggling. Most had parents and I always asked if they could have that option. Parents laughed and said sure. I have some left over, still. I did have some chuckles. Ditto on polite and thank you.
Shrike47
(6,913 posts)It's quite a hike up some of the front walks around here, you work for your candy. We always have a carved pumpkin and a few decorations. Our neighbors across the street laugh at us (nicely, they're the nicest people in the world) because we haven't had a kid in the house for decades. It's been a long time, but I still remember how exciting Halloween is.
katmondoo
(6,457 posts)Went to my daughters house to help with trick and treat. She lives in an area where most houses are decorated for Halloween knowing many children come with parents from all over Gainesville. She had a huge Calderon filled with 1000 pieces of candy and ran out at 8:00 PM, kids started coming at 5:45PM. She says next year she will get 1200 pieces of candy. She enjoys seeing all of the children and is happy to greet them.
SoapBox
(18,791 posts)I added up my tally sheet...about 50...that's average for us...I may have miscounted a bit when a couple of groups came. They all got lucky as the rain didn't start until midnight.
I love seeing the little kids. Been in this house for almost 10 years and this is fun as compared to our condo for 16 years with zero.
MineralMan
(146,325 posts)lisby
(408 posts)We had more than 300 kids last night and it was a blast. Best Halloween ever!
MineralMan
(146,325 posts)ballabosh
(330 posts)It was very cold, very windy and occasionally snowing in Chicago, so I think that had a lot to do with it.
MineralMan
(146,325 posts)Most kids have to have parents with them, and parents don't want to go out in the cold.
We saw very few kids who didn't have parents nearby. Some were in cars or minivans, driving their kids around to houses that were decorated and lit up. Only a few older kids showed up unaccompanied by adults.
ballabosh
(330 posts)We only went to maybe 10 houses and I was freezing! Even then we only saw a handful of other trick-or-treaters.
logosoco
(3,208 posts)subdivision. Not as many out last night with the cold weather. Last week we went to the fire house haunted house and everyone was in t-shirts. That is life in Missouri! I think it even slowed my grandson's down, they came back early.
All the kids are so polite. I usually end up telling THEM thank you, because just showing up with their costumes is such a joy for me!
MineralMan
(146,325 posts)EileenFB
(360 posts)but this year we were lucky to get 15! It was rainy/cold, high school football, plus the neighboring counties had theirs the day before when it was nicer weather.
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)but we are about a mile from a very swanky neighborhood that takes Halloween and Christmas decorating to the next level.
Islandurp
(188 posts)Only about 10 trick or treaters, and they came in one big group. The good thing is I got all this candy just for me.
hedgehog
(36,286 posts)Trick or Treat night means giving a gift without getting one in return.
We're on a rural road, so we only had 1 set of kids all night.
Kalidurga
(14,177 posts)My dog goes nuts when people ring the bell so to avoid that I made up bags of treats and greeted/chased down the treaters in the street. I ran out in less than 45 minutes though, so next year I will be getting a lot more candy.
JI7
(89,262 posts)and especially this year because it was a friday they could do it without having to worry about getting back early for school the next day.
MFM008
(19,818 posts)way down. It was beautiful out to. 55 degrees and clear skies in Washingon state. We were even giving out full size candy bars. Last time we gave out 50 we had 2 survivors left, this time we have 40. Any body want a candy bar
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)We didn't have any trick-or-treaters this year. I was out of town and came back too late for them. i really miss them. But then, we never have very many.
Lucky you. I bet it was fun.
sakabatou
(42,170 posts)Iggo
(47,564 posts)MineralMan
(146,325 posts)Thanks for supporting Halloween!
Iggo
(47,564 posts)B Calm
(28,762 posts)We do get our two granddaughters, but that's it.
beaglelover
(3,488 posts)wonder why....it was a bit cool and did start to sprinkle later in the evening....we have so much left over candy....I think we're going to see if the elementary school across the street will take it.