Kevin Kiley and Paul Noah helped us create the most extraordinary Halloweens.
When we lived in the Harbor at the top of Sherman Street, our house became a glowing graveyard of cobwebbed skeletons, howling wolves and a community parade of little goblins and super heroes. It was one of the most festive events of our year, shared by friends and strangers alike. Even Marylouise Cowan visited one year in a phenomenal witch outfit, accompanied by me dressed as a Texas cowboy!
So why am I recalling Halloween at this time of year you might reasonably ask?
Well, as is often the case, we have been a little behind the eight ball with returning some of our late October paraphernalia to its proper storage. There is more room in the attic now that Paul Noah’s coffin has been removed and the torso of a drugstore manikin got relocated to the back field as a stand-in coyote deterrent. Neither item will be missed.
The plastic storage container to be stored, triggering my recollections, is labeled as follows: Skulls with exposed brain, rat and fly eyes on a string, blood drops, screaming corpse mask, multicolored shackled pumpkins, spider webs and talking hand. This a small fraction of our holdings.
Eventually, our October event grew so much that we had to move it to my wife's mother's house on West Street, which accommodated overflow crowds and encouraged our staff to become even more creative.
The neighbors never said much but I suspect they were not all in favor of our fun, especially when Keven Kiley would turn up the volume on the howling wolves tape!
Imagine my delight when I came upon this week’s image recently while cruising Back River Road. A possible candidate for future Halloweens, should we ever decide to resurrect our well-stored items. Or, when Paul Noah gets a new chain saw!