LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - OCTOBER 22, 2023 by Lynne Belluscio November 1 is All Saints Day. The night before is All Hallows Eve or All Hallows Evening and it was shortened to “All Hallows Even.” Then it was shortened again to Hallowe’en. Sometime, the “All” disappeared and so did the apostrophe. It has been said that in the United States, next to decorating for Christmas, people now are decorating for Halloween and spending almost as much money doing that. It got me thinking, that a while back, most folks just carved a pumpkin or two and that was it. In school, there was a lot of orange and black construction paper projects and some crepe paper. Our Halloween costumes weren’t bought at the store. We made them. I remember one year my dad wore a huge cardboard box over his head, only his legs showed, and there were a lot of kids dressed as ghosts (old sheets were easy to come by). Trick-or-treating wasn’t a planned community event and it was always on October 31, although my husband said that in his neighborhood, they went trick or treating all week, and those people who didn’t come to the door with candy discovered that cabbage seeds had been thrown on their lawn. Toilet paper strung in the trees was an easy way to get back at folks who needed to be tricked. In LeRoy, there are stories of an outhouse or two in the middle of Lake Street. In 1943, the Fort Hill School held a Hallowe’en party and Douglas Brodie won a prize for the funniest costume (there was no mention of what his costume was). They played “Owl’s Nest” which consisted of pitching large canning-jar rubbers (see photo) on legs of an upturned chair. They had a pumpkin head relay and a pumpkin roll and played “Mother Witch Over the Mountain.” In 1944, the LeRoy Rotary Club held a Hallowe’en parade. Over 300 kids marched in the parade led by the high school band. They started at Trigon Park and marched up to the Municipal Building and back to the athletic field behind the school. There were over 1000 people at the athletic filed to watch the youthful marchers and they turned on the flood lights to get a better look at the costumes. David Buckley, Philip Johnson, John Jenner, Robert Munt, Edward Graham, Billy Strobel and Bobby Jones won prizes for their costumes. The crowd drank 75 gallons of cider and ate 1200 doughnuts. 1946 was a relatively quiet event because the football game between Batavia and LeRoy was the next night and there was a pep rally. Everyone joined in a huge snake dance at the athletic field. The origins of Hallowe’en are found in pagan Roman rites and Druid customs, although All Hallows Day is a Christian day to remember departed souls. The early Protestant immigrants to America discouraged the practice of praying for departed souls, and this may have something to do with their aversion to Catholic traditions, never the less it must be pointed out that it was these Protestants who became obsessed with witches and witchcraft ... remember the Salem witch trials. With the arrival of Irish immigrants to America from a traditionally Roman Catholic culture, the custom of celebrating Hallowe’en became popular. The Irish relished the supernatural and the Irish folk story of a stingy drunkard by the name of “Jack” became part of the story of Hallowe’en. Jack was given a light by the Devil after he had been driven from Heaven and Hell. Jack roamed the church in search of a place of rest carrying his strange lantern in his hand. It was also the Irish who shared the custom of carving turnips into ghoulish faces which on this side of the Atlantic became carving faces into pumpkins. Think “Jack ‘O Lanterns.” Wearing costumes originated in Europe several hundreds of years ago, when masked individuals representing lost souls, marched through villages, escorting the ghosts of the departed out of town. In Scotland, a woman turned into a hag on Hallowe’en and flew up the chimney on a broomstick followed by sleek black cats. Because it was said that witches and fairies danced on Hallowe’en, it was believed that that was the night to see into the future. There are many different games that were played to help see into the future. Bobbing for apples was a way to learn of your future boyfriend or girlfriend. Boys would carve their initials into the apples, and when the girls would bob for an apple, the initials would disclose her future boyfriend. The same would happen when girls would carve their initials into the apples for the boys to bob for apples. Apple peels were also saved and thrown over your shoulder. When the peel fell to the floor, the girl would recite: “Paring, paring, long and green, Tell my fate for Hallowe’en.” The peel on the floor would be examined for an initial of her future husband. Another method of telling the future requires placing two chestnuts on the fire or the hot stove: “Two hazelnuts I throw into the flame, and to each nut I give a sweetheart’s name. This, with the loudest bounce me sore amazed; That in a flame of brightest color blazed; As blazed the nut, so may thy passion glow.” This year, businesses on Main Street will be open on Sunday, October 29th from12-3pm for a variety of activities. And the Mayor has announced that the traditional night for trick or treating in the village will be held on October 31st. The LeRoy Business Council is sponsoring a Hallowe’en parade that starts at 6 pm at the Tompkins Bank parking lot. The parade will follow Tom McGinnis to the Fire Hall on Clay Street where cider and doughnuts will be provided. Hallowe’en
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