Halloween was a fun holiday when I was a kid. It was right up there with Christmas. You could walk around dressed like a troll, knock on doors and get candy all night . What could be better than that??? Red Star Hill was Halloween Mecca in those days. A small community near the old downtown part of Dora. If you wanted the good treats, you went to Red Star Hill.
Granny ( Cora Bell ) Thomas lived beside the railroad tracks on Red Star. She always dressed like a witch and with her long flowing dark brown hair and a cackle that would give you chills, well she made a believable witch. She also had a cauldron that she would stir on her front porch.But her treats were the best, candy apples, caramel popcorn balls, and brownies all homemade.
The Halloween when I was about 12, a group of kids from Sloss headed to Red Star. We were cranked up on sugar, and sounded like squirrels high on hickory nuts but we heard the rumble of a car approaching us, but there were no lights and it was pitch dark night. A group of high school guys from another school eased up beside us and nailed us with water balloons. We could hear them laughing as the old Ford sped away.
We were soaked to the bone and we were cold. But treats awaited and we were determined to get our share. We had walked about another mile when we heard that old Ford rumbling down the road.
We knew those water balloons were being loaded and they were getting ready to launch another attack, but this time we had a weapon of our own. When the car got even with us, one of my friends lobbed a cherry bomb in the passenger window. I know this was not an appropriate use of fireworks, but at the time it seemed to be.
The Ford traveled a few feet, came to a screeching halt and the occupants were bailing out just as the cherry bomb went off.
There were seven angry deaf ( temporarily ) football players coming after us but we scattered like marbles on a hardwood floor and hid in the woods until they left. Thankfully we made it through that Halloween with no fatalities.
I love my Halloween memories. These days, it’s sad that so many kids don’t go trick or treating anymore. Think of the memories they are missing.
