Candy corn and costumes

Halloween is fun for kids. It’s fun because of candy, of course, and also because of the thrill of dressing in a costume.

For many kids the candy really is the star. Until I was about 10, I loved candy corn better than anything. My Grandma Davis always kept candy corn in a dish if she knew I was coming because she knew I would be looking for it.

Those were the two times I ate candy corn — Halloween and whenever I visited my Grandma’s house.

My parents were terribly severe about candy but they definitely were resolute about not eating it very often. It was OK at Halloween and a few other special occasions, but it was a treat — not something to have every day or even every week.

By the time I was a teenager I had lost my taste for candy corn and my favorites were Hershey bars, Mounds and Almond Joy.

As an adult I have very nearly sworn off candy entirely. I still like almonds and coconut, just not in chocolate bars.

A good Hershey bar, though, is still a nice treat. Maybe once a year or so now I enjoy the chocolate bliss of the Pennsylvania-based classic.

Although Jane and I don’t always entertain trick-or-treaters at home, we do it every few years. It’s always fun to see the excitement on kids’ faces when they get some candy.

This year we’re hosting trick-or-treaters at the Chowan Herald office. We’ll be here this evening as part of the downtown trick-or-treat event sponsored by Destination Downtown Edenton.

I’m looking forward to it. As late as Wednesday morning, as I was writing this column, I still hadn’t firmly settled on a costume idea.

I have been leaning toward a ‘river swimmer’ costume, since I enjoy swimming in the Pasquotank and other coastal rivers. I have swim trunks, t-shirt, goggles and swim cap I can wear, but I’m not sure what to wear that might be emblematic of the river.

I briefly considered hanging a fake snake around my neck, since people are always kidding me about snakes in the river (and they’re there, to be sure) — but that would probably be way too scary for the younger children.

In fact, a faux snake could frighten off even a good number of otherwise stouthearted adults.

Come to think of it, costumes, too, were fun as a child.

I went trick-or-treating a couple of times as a cowboy and went at least once as a pioneer in a ‘Daniel Boone’ vein, complete with coonskin cap and fringe vest.

The costumes also added to the fun this past weekend as the Elizabeth II wooden sailing vessel from Roanoke Island Festival Park spent a couple of days in Edenton. The sailors were dressed in costumes as old-time sailors, and their costumes complemented their well-studied accents.

Kids (of all ages, as the saying goes) really enjoyed the sailors and the ship.