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Small town Halloweens were the bestOn the exterior, on any other day of the year, I look like a mild-mannered, reasonable and mature middle-aged woman. On Oct. 31, though, I let my inner 9-year-old loose and put away the maturity. Halloween's the one day where we all have a legitimate excuse to dress up in outfits we'd never wear any other day of the year, eat too much candy that's meant for trick-or-treaters, and generally act foolish with few cares. And I take full advantage of the loophole in the grown-up regulations of life. Or at least that's how it used to be. My memories of Halloween in the country are those of a holiday done right. We didn't have to pay someone $29.99 for a haunted house experience when we could create one in the abandoned farmhouse in the middle of our cow pasture. We didn't have to travel miles to a pumpkin patch, when we'd been growing our own pumpkins and gourds in the garden all summer long. If we wanted to, we could enjoy a hay rack ride whenever the fancy struck us--and get our chores done at the same time. Of course, that was all before lawyers and insurance companies sucked all the fun out of the holiday. Our community spook houses may or may not have been Dr. Spock-approved, and may have caused childhood trauma for a few--but they were sure fun. Our hay rack rides were on gravel roads, on rickety trailers with no guardrails or helmets and just a stack of hay between you and the hole in the wooden floorboard. And yet no one complained, we just enjoyed the passing scenery at 15 miles per hour. We went to costume parties in homemade costumes from our parents' closets, and prizes were awarded on merit of creativity instead of for just showing up. And, you could be a goofy pumpkin, or a scary witch, or a funny clown, and no one called the ACLU. Parents dropped off their kids to trick-or-treat in the nearby small town with a wave and a flashlight, and without worrying about poisoned candy or abductions. It was an age where a nice retired teacher could hand out homemade caramel popcorn balls to trick-or-treaters and not end up in handcuffs on the nightly news. There were bonfires where we roasted hot dogs and made S'mores and no one complained about carcinogens, carbon footprints, or sharpened instruments that could potentially be used as weapons. We played on hay slides, and ran through corn fields and no one sued because they got a bruise or stubbed their toe. Parents put out pumpkins on their front porches without worrying that the neighbor kids would smash them. Just about the worst prank pulled was the appearance of several truckloads of hedge apples on Main Street in Woodbine one Halloween. And yet, most people got the humor of the prank. What happened to our society? When did Halloween go from being a night of fun and creativity to a night of potential insurance liabilities and lawsuits? Look, we have enough fears, worries and stresses the other 364 days of the year. Can't we just have one night when we have good-natured frivolity? It's time we took back the holiday in the name of fun. This year, on Oct. 31, go out there and enjoy your own small town Halloweens. Let your own inner 9-year-olds out for a little while. They could use the exercise. Because, all too soon Nov. 1 rolls around, and we have to turn back into our regular mature selves. Jennifer M. Latzke can be reached by phone at 620-227-1807, or by e-mail at jlatzke@hpj.com.
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