Halloween at Port Gamble

It would seem that more and more commercial areas are providing "safe and sane" Halloween visiting areas, those spots where parents can send their kids and feel confident that trick or treating will not result in razor blades in apples, although it's been years since I've heard of anyone dong that. Most of those commercial areas, though, have become so overrun that what many of us grandparents remember from our youth is no longer taking place, and instead the goblins are running from store to store, grabbing what they can get and heading on home in a short time.

Port Angeles, for instance, has been doing this for so many years that it has grown to the point that a business needs over 2500 pieces of candy (or whatever else is being given out) to still be able to pass the gifts to the last visitor. I saw a sign at the Silverdale Mall yesterday which said they are no longer carrying on the tradition. No explanation, but having been the owner of a downtown business I can see the frustration of trying to preserve a tradition which seems to be out of hand.

So what does all this have to do with the small town of Port Gamble? A lot!! I mentioned earlier that most places are no longer having the events that we grandparents remember from our youth. You are probably a grandparent if you remember  "dunking for apples" (especially if you actually did it), or pressing cider, or even hay rides. Small towns did those sorts of things, and as I've said just a few times, Port Gamble is certainly a small town. There are fewer and fewer such places, but this one is proud to stand and invite kids and parents from throughout the area to join in on the fun and visit us on Halloween for fun as much as for candy.

Don't get me wrong, this "tradition" of inviting goblins on Halloween is just a few years old for Port Gamble, but it is growing,  and plans are to keep it going. So on Halloween, from 1pm  to 5pm, parents and young kids (there is no age limit, but you can tell from the "1 pm to 5 pm" that we are dealing with fairly young kids rather than middle schoolers) are invited to come to Port Gamble and join in the fun. Each business will not only have a gift for each visitor, but it will have to be earned through a game of some kind. Maybe it will be a mask that has to be painted; or maybe a "fish" caught from the other  side of a screen, or maybe a photograph to be taken home and shown to the rest of the family, or maybe a crank on a cider press to get real, fresh cider. We won't tell; you will just have to find out for yourself.

Yes, it's always a lot easier to give kids a ride to the nearest shopping center and turn them loose for a couple of hours to fill their bags with sugar. But while those kids of yours are still with you why not come and watch them having fun. Why, we might even have a treat for you!!!!