It was a dark and stormy night. Wind gusts were predicted for up to 50mph, and those who obsessively track the weather a week in advance were convinced that the night would be soaked from an all-day downpour. Some communities canceled their Halloween trick-or-treating nights. Since Beacon’s Halloween night is organized by no one in particular - except us trick-or-treaters! - there was nothing to cancel. You were either going to go out, or you weren’t.

So people went out. And the night was nice and spooky. The evening started early, with little treaters coming out at about 4:30 pm. The wind was gusting, and the temperature perfect. Not too cold, not warm, which meant you didn’t need to wear a winter coat over your costume, which always ruins the effect.

The notorious “Willows,” which are the two streets of houses on East Willow and West Willow, connected by a loop at the prisoners’ cemetery where a witch is rumored to look for trespassers, had visitors, but not the usual amount. Missing this year was the homemade haunted house. Perhaps because it did lightly drizzle all day (almost a mist), dampening the spirits.

The best costume, in this blogger’s opinion, came around at about 8:30 pm. Usually I’m locked inside my house by that point, lights out, lying on the floor biting my nails, afraid of every door knock after 8 pm. Because my kids have gotten older, this year I was still in the game and had company over, so was feeling safe enough to answer the door. Not only was this trick-or-treater not dressed in an all-black track suit, but the costume was so clever! And homemade: an ice cream machine that lit up. Apologies for the blurry picture above - all of the photos from the night were blurry as everyone moved so fast.

I grew up with the homemade costume mentality. As an adult with kids, however, I have very little time to make the costume, nor the skill set to quickly stitch anything up. My sewing machine is surrounded by slime-making materials. My kids are used to going to Party City or Spirit of Halloween to buy a costume in the bag.

This year, the elementary school tried something new by asking our kids to wear a costume as a Very Important Person during their Fall Parade held on Halloween. My daughter immediately expected to buy a new costume. No, no! I immediately costumed one together from the laundry and fabric scraps in the basement. She wasn’t used to this concept, so declined, and opted to wear her Halloween night costume instead (as did several other kids).

Therefore, an award goes to this Ice Cream Machine, which included favorites like ice cream sandwiches and popsicles. Well done!