Halloween on Pine Street
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"Have you seen her children? She doesn’t know where they are!" bellowed Florence each time the front doorbell rang on Halloween night. It was a slight exaggeration. I knew they were trick-or-treating, but I had only authorized them to go to a few houses and then come back for me, so I could join them and supervise.
You see, on Tuesdays, I played Scrabble with my neighbor Florence Goldman. She had lived behind our house, on Kaufmann Drive, since the 1950s.
We met when she was a grandmother, and I was a young mother pushing a double stroller around the neighborhood. She then started delivering coupons for diapers and cereal to my mailbox, along with occasional copies of The National Enquirer, thrown in for a laugh. After discovering our mutual love of competitive board games, she would pull into the driveway in her cherry red sedan, ready with her Deluxe Scrabble board, reading glasses, and official dictionary.
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That year, Halloween coincided with our weekly game. Flo had amassed over 300 points because she made a seven-letter word. I was prepared with my witch hat, Reeses, Snickers, and packets of candy corn to start a search party for the kids, but they soon came home on their own, their bags bursting, thrilled that they had made it to Pine Street, where the celebration of All Hallows' Eve is legendary.
We now live on Pine Street after moving around the corner a couple of years ago. Last year, the pandemic shelved our holiday plans, but our house is now decorated and ready for October 31st. We will be excited to see cars pull up from more remote locations joining the festivities on roads like ours where the homes are lit up and close together.
One of my neighbors, Linda Greenwood, has lived here since 1969. She tells me that Pine Street has been a favorite trick-or-treating location for as long as she can recall: "Parents would bring their children in from outlying towns, so they could run up and down the hill, knocking on doors and collecting treats." Linda said that adults were also happy to create some theater: "We also have had neighbors who have dressed up, stood on the roof over their front door and scared the kids…they love it!"
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Another neighbor recalled stepping up and putting on a show for trick or treaters. One of the residents, an actor, dressed as Dracula, hung all his shutters crooked, and had spooky music piped outside. He would greet the kids in costume, giving them a scare. Another homeowner created a ghost on a pulley, and it went flying from the upper barn door, much to the thrill of children. One neighbor would jump out of a pile of leaves, startling visitors. Another neighbor would also sit very still in a rocker on their porch, pretending to be a stuffed dummy. It was dark, and as kids approached the house, he started rocking. Others had bonfires in the driveway and served homemade treats for parents as well as children.
Adult theatrics and mischief are nothing new to Peterborough. From my friends who have lived here longer than I, I have heard tell of Halloween Masquerade Balls and themed murals, poems, parades, plays, and songs.
I have a feeling that this year's ghosts, ghouls, and goblins will be epic. Be safe out there, and take Flo's advice: "Keep track of your kids!"
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