Halloween Urban Style!

We live in a major urban area where I've only seen trick 'r treaters once in over 21 years. What we do is have block parties; one for the adults on Halloween Night proper, a second 2-day street fair for the children in my area.

I love street fairs on general principal: they're fun, the vendors are great, the visitor (well, all of 'us') are friendly and the braver folks bring out their exotic birds for a couple of hours. The bird folks take the time to explain why they chose this pet while the birds chirp and 'talk' back.

The children's fair is wonderful! A local organizer gets permission to close a street for 5 or so blocks, gets a flock of vendors and gets the local businesses involved as well. Children trick 'r treat from store to store (they're all small) while there are plenty of places for the parents to stop for ice cream and coffee. (Note: the few bars offer 'daddy' specials . . . assuming ol' dad can sneak away, heh heh heh.)

There's a tiny train and rides for families. A pumpkin carver and local 600 plus pound pumpkins for awed viewers. There are some local children's marshing bands (not real great, but who cares!) looking sharp in their dazzling uniforms. There's a pumpkin patch and space for professional photos.

It's great fun for the children, the parents love it since it's safe (well monitored by police) and 'really old people' like me love watching all this citified joy albeit sometimes over coffee from the confines of a cafe.

A number of Bay Area communities are moving in this direction to avoid problems. Some fairs are staged in halls of local churches which, when you think about it, is a bit unusual but certainly mainstream.

Honey, come October and events to suit everybody, this city loves to party!