In the early 1970s, I remember one Halloween in particular, that was very different from what most children experience. My mom got out an old white sheet about a week before Halloween. The three of us - sisters ages 5, 6 and 7 - got to cut up the sheet into squares. Then Mom helped us place them over Tootsie Pops and tie off the bottom of the candy top with a string. Then with a black marker we put two dots for eyes and a smile for the mouth. They looked like little ghosts. Then we placed them all in a black bowl. When it was time for Halloween, my father had a dessert motorcycle race out at Red Mountain in the Mojave Dessert. Our destination was Charlie's Place. We loaded up the van with Dad's Rickman Matchless, our camping supplies and of course our costumes. After the races Saturday, Halloween night, each campsite was set up with candles to light the way for the children to come and trick or treat. It was truly exciting and a little scary.
Then there was the time a few years ago when our daughter Jenee was 3 1/2 years old, a group of friends decided Halloween weekend would be a great weekend to end our camping season. I was the coordinator and I chose the Gabbs Ichthyosaur State Park by the ghost town of Berlin out in the middle of Nevada. Sounds scary already doesn't it? The campground is right there by the fossils and has fewer than 20 campsites. They are all beautiful. It was a nice warm sunny day, the drive was easy. We hiked all around and planned on riding our off road vehicles the next day. There were only the four of us couples and our daughter Jenee who packed her costume to wear that night and trick or treat to all four of our trailers. As the sun set she dressed in her bunny outfit made of polar fleece to keep her warm. You know how here in Northern Nevada it gets mighty cold almost every Halloween? After Jenee made it to each of our four campsites it was time to light the campfire. We didn't last but about an hour and it was too cold to try and stay warm by the fire so we all called it a night. We had to run the furnace in the trailers that night, lots. In the morning it was 13 degrees. All four of our trailers pipes were frozen, and so were we.
I suggested we head out to the Walker River Resort in Smith Valley because it would be warmer there, right? Well, at least they had hook-ups so we wouldn't be draining our batteries trying to run the furnace. The same thing happened - it was nice and warm during the day. We got to ride our off road vehicles this time, all over. We had a campfire that night, but when it got dark we all headed into our trailers to our furnaces. It was 16 degrees the next two nights and still froze our pipes. Luckily, they would thaw out by mid-morning and we had all day to play in the dirt some more.
Have a safe and happy Halloween. Be on the look out for those cute little kids in your neighborhood.
-- Lisa Welch is a Johnson Lane resident and can be reached at 267-9350.
