Wednesday, November 02, 2011

A first on Halloween night


Walsh Street scene on Halloween night

St. Louis rocks Halloween. It leads the nation in commercial haunted houses. Year after year we get over 200 trick or treaters at our door. Lots of neighbors decorate their houses. We close the street with a block party permit, just like the block next to us. Parents walk with kids. Beers and fall treats are exchanged. It's a highlight of the year in the neighborhood.

Enjoying ideal weather, this year we had a first on Halloween. A little girl, about 7, trick or treating by herself with her parents watching from the sidewalk, came up to our porch, told her obligatory joke, and then received her treat from our candy filled treasure chest. Then she gave something back to us.

It was a little, handmade thank you note. She had cut yellow construction paper into the outline of a tiny picture frames. Then she glued a little orange spider to each note and wrote the words "thank you" in pencil across the top. She was maybe seven years old.

Each year, we make up special decorated gift bags with extra candy to give to the immediate neighbor kids on our block. We had one of those left, so we tracked down the little girl's parents to make sure she got one of the special treats. Her mom smiled and told us the idea of the thank you notes was all hers. Pretty awesome thing for a seven-year old to do, wouldn't you say?

No comments: