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Butch Furse
Halloween ain’t what it used to be. Gone are the days when goblins tipped over outhouses, upset garbage cans, soaped windows, and instigated other tricks.
The once simple ghost costume of a white bed sheet with two eye-holes cut and slipped over a trick or treater’s head, or the wearing dad’s old suit coat and fedora hat have been replaced with expensive store-bought attire depicting everything from animals to space aliens. In fact, because Halloween falls on Sunday it appears this year’s special event in some communities could span earlier dates. For example Aurora’s annual “Scare the Square” will fall on this Thursday, Oct. 28.
Most of the changes have been for the better. Aurora businesses and organizations will have an array of treat tables, sponsored entertainment and other activities. Other communities across Nebraska are sponsoring such things as Trunk and Treats, hayrack rides, kids’ activities and games, Spooky Day, Pumpkin Patches and more.
Now there is one thing that is going to trouble the young’uns. Over the years parents have become more health conscious. A “Beat The Sugar Monster” theme has made an appearance in Oklahoma where a program doesn’t mean to cause a scare, but does recommend physical activities and practicing moderation by swapping candy for fun and healthy treats.
Studies have found that on Halloween, children can eat up to three cups of sugar, the equivalent of 169 sugar cubes and 7,000 calories, in candy consumption. In my young years I can recall ringing a doorbell, getting an apple instead of a candy bar . . . and leaving disappointed only to give the apple to someone else.
Today we’re too old for trick or treating, but enjoy those trick and treaters coming to our door.
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The ivory-billed woodpecker – a model for Universal Studios “Woody Woodpecker” is extinct. Not one has been seen since 2005.
In 1973 when Congress passed the Endangered Species Act in the following decades millions of endangered plants and animals have been delisted because of human abuses, property developments, mining, over-hunting, and climate change.
Don’t get me wrong, change is inevitable and here the majority of all of us are trying to slow the change. But, a world without “Woody Pecker” is a sad thought for us old timers who years ago witnessed Universal Studios’ Woody cartoons.
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Ever notice how a pesky fly disappears after you finally find the fly swatter?
RL Furse is publisher emeritus of the News-Register
