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A chance to play dress-up, why not?
November 1, 2007

Halloween in Oriental this year featured a few parties, the Hay Ride from the Provision Company, and a new twist on a Jack-o-Lantern.

For a few years now, Jimmy and Susi Smith have organized a hayride for kids, and this year about two dozen piled in for the ride that took them to neighborhoods around town to trick or treat.

Kenyon Burton was one of the early arrivals.

Jimmy Smith, in his driver mode, went for the pirate motif too. That penguin on his shoulder he says, is a parrot in costume.

Earlier he gave Wendy Ceniceros a hand in working thru the technical aspects of her Scream costume

— tubing of red dye that would later find its way to her face.

A wizard on hand seemed less out to frighten than to be taken in by the magic of his wand..

Meanwhile, felines figured prominently on the haywagon.

There was also at least one witch, and though she didn’t say, judging by the compass rose, she was not from the West and so likely not Wicked.

Meanwhile, Oriental’s youngest resident — 2-1/2 week old Spencer Rogers — showed up at one party and with his parents, Tim Rogers and Janet Alexander.

Together, the trio won best costume for their pumpkin patch theme. (Those are pumpkin seeds in the overalls pocket.)

Several others seized on the opportunity to play dress up….

Ross Otterbacher welcomed folks to his party dressed as a rather respectable looking devil. He kept company for a time with a faceless ghoul, and Larry “Argh!” Walker.

Regina Dubiel meanwhile, was the Devil’s counterpart. That sprightly face-less almost Happy ghoul started creeping up on the halo.

Eventually, the ghoul was uncovered, as seen in this photo of Happy Williams, Stephanie Reid and Bob Miller.

Stephanie says she was given that explorer’s hat as a gift after an archaelogical dig in Syria where she happened to be on 9/11. Bob Miller dressed, we think, as Gerard Depardieu playing a doctor.

Some folks literally came off a boat. A few cruising sailors stopped by, among them, Tom and Susan who are temporarily in Oriental on thier way South for the winter.

Their footware qualifies as Oriental in several senses of the word.

While the carved pumpkins begin to age and crumple in on themselves, at least one piece of pumpkin craft isn’t fading quite yet.

Laura Turgeon painted a pumpkin with a likeness of one TownDock canine — Jack — shadowed by the spirit that still spooks him from time to time.. even when it isn’t Halloween.

Posted Thursday November 1, 2007 by Melinda Penkava