69°F
weather icon Mostly Clear

Kids of all ages can enjoy Halloween

Happy Halloween.

Based on an ancient Celtic holiday during which people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts, today’s incarnation seems more likely to find ways to incorporate spirits into the celebration. Ghosts in every form imaginable find their way into our homes as cupcake decorations, home decor, subjects of movies and television programs and even as costumes for trick-or-treaters.

According to History.com, the modern-day custom of trick-or-treating evolved around the late 1800s, modeling itself after European traditions that had Americans dressing in costume and going from house to house asking for food or money.

Apparently young women also believed that on Halloween they could conjure up the name or likeness of their future husbands by doing tricks with yarn, apple peels or mirrors. Perhaps that may be part of the reason why witches and witchcraft, which were part of the early religious observances, continue to be popular holiday themes.

In the early 1900s through the 1950s, the holiday become more community-oriented. It also began to evolve into a holiday for the young — or at least the young at heart. It was fun and festive, and its pumpkins and jack-o’-lanterns helped herald fall.

The monsters of those Halloween celebrations were far less scarier than today’s monsters. Sometime in the late 1970s and 1980s, Halloween began to take on a different spin as it became customary to frighten people and make them jump and scream. From movies to haunted houses to scary amusement park transformations, it became a less friendly holiday. Or maybe just my perception changed as I transitioned from kid to adult and I was exposed to different experiences.

Still, the holiday remains one of my favorites. I love the spicy aroma and taste of pumpkin spice. And the opportunity to dress up without being considered eccentric is an added bonus.

When I was younger, finding the perfect costume took weeks and sometimes months. The best ones were those that hid your true identity or let you become someone or something else for a couple of hours. You could be an astronaut, a football player, a superhero, a princess, a pirate or a robot. One year, I painted a box and went as a die.

This annual assumption of another persona could be the reason why I enjoy the theater so much. While you are on stage and in costume, the true you plays second fiddle to the character in the spotlight.

Though I have long since passed the age when it is acceptable to trick or treat and my kids have grown into adults and don’t need me to accompany them as they gather sweet treats from the neighbors, I still look forward to being able to don a costume and decorate the house to greet the youngsters that visit my house.

Whether you plan to spend Halloween trick-or-treating, participating in a community costume contest or getting scared out of your wits, I hope it’s a happy celebration for your and your family. Just don’t try to figure out which of those costumed characters is me because I’ve spent the past several weeks planning the perfect way to keep my identity hidden.

Hali Bernstein Saylor is editor of the Boulder City Review. She can be reached at hsaylor@bouldercityreview.com or at 702-586-9523. Follow @HalisComment on Twitter.

MOST READ
LISTEN TO THE TOP FIVE HERE
THE LATEST
Bursting our bewitched bubble

It’s that dreaded time of year again. Monstrous in magnitude. A mysterious ritual. Strange, scary, sinister, and spooky. Macabre and menacing. Dark and gloomy. Dastardly and disturbing. Gruesome and ghoulish. Frightful. Creepy. Petrifying. Even eerie. A wicked, morbid tradition that haunts our city annually.

Mayor’s Corner: Helmets save lives

Emergency personnel in Clark County estimate they respond to four accidents each day involving bikes, e-bikes, or e-scooters. A few of these accidents have involved fatalities of minors — a grim reminder of the dangers of these devices when not used responsibly. Our goal as city leaders is to prevent tragedies from occurring. Any loss of life has a dramatic impact on families, loved ones, friends, as well as on the entire community.

Cheers to 40 years in the biz

I thought I’d talk a little about the newspaper business on the heels of the Review winning seven statewide awards the other night in Fallon.

AI is here. Just ask your neighbors

“I’ve done 10 albums in the past year,” my across-the-street neighbor, Dietmar, told me Sunday morning as we stood in the street between our two houses catching up. He added that his wife, Sarah, had put out two collections of songs in the same time period, adding, “You know it’s all AI, right?”

Astronaut lands in Nevada, so to speak

I wish to begin by noting that when it comes to politics, I am registered nonpartisan. So when writing about Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, I’m focusing (well, for the most part), on his role as a retired NASA astronaut, not as a politician.

The patriot way

Today is Patriot Day, a day most of us refer to as 9/11. In the U.S., Patriot Day occurs annually on Sept. 11 in memory of the victims who died in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Program helps homebuyers in Boulder City

Owning a home is part of the American Dream. Unfortunately, the steep rise in rental rates and increasing costs for goods and services have left many home buyers struggling to save enough for a down payment.