If you’re one of those grumpy Homer curmudgeons who don’t like kids and live downtown, you might want to turn out your lights, lock your doors and hide in the basement tonight. Not only will your neighbors’ little darlings come knocking for Halloween, but so will children from as far away as Detroit, it seems. OK, maybe not Detroit, but the greater Homer area.
Yeah, if you live in the wilds of, say, Skyline Drive, a kid can find the Halloween pickings kinda slim. Some of those long driveways can be pretty scary for a child in a Princess Honey Boo Boo Darth Vader costume. Some of those houses can be pretty scary and look like sets from “A Nightmare on Elm Street.”
It’s not that kid-loving hillsiders don’t want to give away nutritious, sugar-packed treats. Nobody tricks-or-treats. The first year the Betster moved to the hills, honest, yours truly put out a bowl of candy. No one visited and it was heck trying to polish off two pounds of chocolate and peanut-butter cups. The kids don’t trick-or-treat beyond town and beyond town nobody bothers getting candy. Everybody goes to the Views — that would be, all the streets with “view” in their name.
This year, the parents have it all dialed in. There will be one-way streets on Mountainview and Bayview Avenues from 5 to 8 p.m. today. Commuting trick-or-treaters and their drivers are encouraged to park out of the area and walk. Meanwhile, up in the hills, we’ll be stocking up on chocolate in the rare event someone actually shows up, because, well, you just never know.
Celebrate Halloween, All Hallows Eve, Samhain, the Day of the Dead — whatever you call these late October holidays, maybe with some of these Best Bets:
BEST MAKE IT A PARTY BET: There’s lots more Halloween fun today, with trick-or-treating 4-6 p.m. at the Pratt Museum Homestead Cabin, 5-7:30 p.m. with the Haunted Inn at the Driftwood Inn in Old Town, 5-8 p.m. at the Homer Public Library, 4-8 p.m. at Long Term Care at South Peninsula Hospital and a costume contest from 5-7:30 p.m. at AJ’s Old Town Steakhouse and Tavern. Oh, and have a “Healthy Dose of Halloween Fun” from 2-5 p.m. for ages 7 and younger at the SPH Pediatric Therapy Gym. Whew.
And if you got a bit too much candy, trade it in at the Rotary Health Fair from 7:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday and exchange it for prizes at the Pediatric Therapy Booth. Candy will be sent to U.S. troops overseas.
BEST LIGHTS OUT BET: Get out your glow sticks, turn out the lights and power up the music for Night Skating from 7-9 p.m. Friday at the Kevin Bell Arena. It’ll be a rocking good time and a good way to burn off some calories from that Halloween snackin’. Admission is $5 a person and $3 for skate rentals.
BEST SCARY OCEAN BET: Polish up that ocean-themed costume for a shot at a big $150 prize at the Homer Spooky Ocean Boogie Halloween Party and Benefit from 7-8:30 p.m. Friday at Alice’s Champagne Palace. Enjoy seafood chowder, spooky ocean storytelling and music by Burnt Down House and the Super Saturated Sugar Strings. The $25 admission benefits the Alaska Marine Conservation Council.
BEST BE GRATEFUL BET: OK — Noche de Los Muertos (that’s the night of the dead) and burlesque? Oh, why the heck not. Once you’ve been to the Ocean Boogie, head east to the Down East for the Halloween Homer Broomball fundraiser from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. Friday. There will be performances by Homer’s finest burlesque performers, tunes by DJ CJ7 and DJ Fractal Theory and wild visuals and lights by Fiend. Admission is $10.
BEST BE HEALTHY BET: With all the Halloween fun, take a day to be healthy with the 30th annual Rotary Health Fair. The information back event starts at 7:30 a.m. and runs to 1 p.m. at the Homer High School commons. Pretty much everyone in the Homer health community will be there with booths, demonstrations, flu shots and other great stuff to keep our bodies ticking strong.
