Hello fellow students, I've decided to take some time and tell you about an old tradition my family has done for over 10 years to date. The air becomes cold, the sky becomes dark, and the whispers of ghosts lurk about you. Yes Halloween is here again. Let me ask you one question, what do you and your family do to entertain trick or treaters that walk up to your door? Do you just simply open the door and give them candy or are you more creative than that?

If you believe you're creative then listen to this. Back when I was wee tot in elementary school, my folks did a little set up on our little sidewalk based around Peter Pan. My parents and older sister got into the act on that fateful night while I went out to gather my yearly stash of sugar. But, I would soon realize similar scenarios would become a part of my life about two years later when a wizard’s cave was made in our garage. Each year these set ups got more intricate to the year I grew out of trick or treating, the year we chose The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown as our theme. We hung a large tapestry with a giant pumpkin painted on it to resemble the fictional squash. At that point, family and friends had gotten involved in the show, even me (though I dressed as Mario that year). You think that was creative, these ideas reached a peak my first 3 years in high school where my dad acquired several used stage flats and he was dead set on putting them to good use. Freshman year, we did a mock up of the Triwizard Maze form Harry Potter 4 (I dressed as Malfoy), sophomore year we did MBM, or Mostly B Movie Studios (I stepped into the role of a director), and junior epitomized our Halloween with a pirate ship (revolve al Captain Jack Sparrow). We'd draw in at least 150 kids to our house each year. It was exhausting but fun.

Sadly, the flats were so worn out we had to dispose of them after that night. To wrap things up, my senior year we did a sort of Memory Lane featuring props used from the last 12 (that’s right 12) years and once again had a huge turnout. Last year was different since me, along with my twin brother and friends, could not be there for support. Instead, my parents worked in conjunction with our local church and their Haunted Meetinghouse which had been brought back after years of absence. It drew nearly 250 kids alone to our house. As for today, I just came back from a costume party held on the 27th. We're going back to one of or earlier ideas, the Wizard of Oz. When I got home Friday night, I noticed our driveway had been set up to be a yellow brick road. Plus, our deck had two event sized tents to accompany folks should it rain. Despite our lack of lumber (and helping hands), my family continues to make a name for ourselves on Hallow's Eve no matter what obstacle comes our way.