You need to have a certain amount of creativity to be a reporter.
Your writing skills need to be strong enough to draw people in for a story, and keep their attention until the story鈥檚 conclusion. You need to be able to grab their attention with a headline and a photo.
But when it comes to other forms of creativity, I am sorely lacking. Take costumes, for example.
When I was a kid, I always struggled to decide what I would be for Halloween. Most of my friends knew what they would be weeks in advance. I didn鈥檛 know three days in advance. My mother often had to come up with something a few days before Oct. 31.
You also didn鈥檛 have the abundance of costumes available at stores like you do now.
Needless to say, when it came time to go out for trick or treat on Halloween, I didn鈥檛 get a lot of compliments from neighbours, saying 鈥渨hat a great costume.鈥�
So while Halloween is a big deal for a lot of people, it鈥檚 not a big deal for me.
Having spent most of the past 10 years living in apartment and condominium buildings, I don鈥檛 get a lot of kids dropping by looking for candy, either.
I鈥檓 not even sure if I can have a pumpkin with an actual candle in front of my condo. It might be classified as a fire hazard.
Generally, Halloween is just another day for me.
But there has been a positive development for Halloween in the community this year. There鈥檚 a lot happening in the community. And I think it鈥檚 great.
Most years there will be a few community events in Estevan. A business, an organization or a school will have a haunted house or a costume contest. And kids will go out on Halloween in the never-ending pursuit for candy.
There will also be a couple of Halloween cabarets for adults.
But this year will offer a variety of events for kids of all ages. A few have already happened. The Halloween Haunt at the Estevan Art Gallery and Museum was a hit once again. It was hard to move in there on Saturday afternoon during the first hour of the event. That鈥檚 not a bad thing either.
A few more are still to come. It鈥檒l be interesting to see how the City of Estevan transforms the 60-year-old Civic Auditorium into a haunted house, or how the 麻豆视频ern Plains Co-op changes the normally tranquil Preddy Trails in Woodlawn Regional Par into the Trails of Terror. Both are first-time events.
It鈥檚 great for families to have these events to choose from. It鈥檚 great for the kids to have an extra opportunity to sport their costumes. It鈥檚 great if the adults want to dress up, too.
The more activities that we have for kids at Halloween that are in a fun and safe environment, the better off we are.
Halloween isn鈥檛 always the most popular date on the calendar. It鈥檚 been a target for the political correctness crew. Schools have held Orange and Black days instead of Halloween.
The only time a school should have an Orange and Black Day is if they鈥檙e celebrating a Grey Cup championship for the B.C. Lions.
The worst example of political correctness running amuck at Halloween鈥檚 expense was the mind-boggling story of a school in Manitoba that replaced Halloween with Tie and Scarf Day. I still don鈥檛 know what ties and scarves have to do with Halloween. Maybe this is their idea of dressing up.
I think a tie and scarf day should be held some time in February as part of a school theme day. But that鈥檚 just me.
Let kids be kids. Let them get dressed up for Halloween. Let them attend a few events prior to Oct. 31. Let the older kids get dressed up, too. As long as they aren鈥檛 going door to door, looking for candy, once they鈥檙e legally allowed to drive a car, then the older kids should have some chances to dress up for Halloween.聽
Just don鈥檛 be upset if I don鈥檛 show up in costume for a Halloween activity. Given my creativity levels when it comes to outfits, you should be happy if I show up disguised as me.
