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It’s Halloween! It’s Halloween!
The moon is full and bright
And we shall see what can’t be seen
On any other night.
Skeletons and ghosts and ghouls,
Grinning goblins fighting duels
Werewolves rising from their tombs,
Witches on their magic brooms
In masks and gown we haunt the street
And knock on doors for trick or treat
Tonight we are the king and queen,
For oh tonight it’s Halloween!
– by Jack Prelutsky
Why do we love Halloween? Behavioral experts say it is the opportunity for unfettered creativity. For a single night, we can safely be anything we want, hero or villain, human or animal or thing.
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More importantly, the holiday promotes community. We are outside together regardless of the weather, giving and receiving.
Of course, we can’t forget all those treats! It is estimated that 300,000 TONS of candy are sold during the Halloween season. The favorite candy? A hint – it’s not candy corn. Reese’s peanut butter cups are number one, followed by Skittles and M&Ms. Candy corn is way down there at number 10. The cost of that Halloween candy? Americans spend about $2.6 billion! Phew!
You will be pleased to know that all the Halloween activities at Peninsula Community Library are free. Come by PCL October 29 at 10 a.m. when storyteller extraordinaire Jenifer Strauss shares tales and songs of autumn and offers a family craft of a mummy candle holder. Stay afterward for donuts, cider and more! Be sure to take a walk through the Children’s Garden where some strange visitors have taken up residence. Enjoy our outdoor Halloween Story Walk, as well!
Gifted artist Becky Dykstra helps patrons create a lovely watercolor card with autumn leaves. Becky will show you how! November 8 at 2 p.m. RSVP by 11/2.
PCL partners with VERSITI for a blood drive November 9. All blood collected stays in Michigan. You may register here. I have already signed up to give the gift of life. Have you?
Don’t forget to bring in your seeds as you clean out your gardens! Our seed library needs them for next spring!
We are so very fortunate to have such a supportive family of community members here at PCL. The Friends of Peninsula Community Library recently gifted the library $10,000 toward programming and collection items, $1800 for a soon-to-be available Library of Things, $10,000 toward the generator being installed as I write this, and they’re funding not only the Record-Eagle subscription, but also our Wall Street Journal and Sunday New York Times subscriptions, as well!
They meet next in January and are always looking for new members! Many thanks to our wonderful neighbor Jeremiah Warren who mowed our 5 and 1/4 acres free of charge and then came back to cut down some wayward shrubs. We are so grateful to all who give their time, talents and resources!
Come by PCL Halloween Monday during regular hours, 10-7, for a treat! What kind of treat? Well, as William Shakespeare said in Macbeth, “Eye of newt and toe of frog, wool of bat and tongue of dog…” Just kidding! Have a safe and happy Halloween!
BOO!
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SUPPORT YOUR INDEPENDENT LOCAL NEWSPAPER: I started Old Mission Gazette in 2015 because I felt a calling to provide the Old Mission Peninsula community with local news. After decades of writing for newspapers and magazines like the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Family Circle and Ladies' Home Journal, I really just wanted to write about my own community where I grew up on a cherry farm and raised my own family. So I started my own newspaper.
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