Trick or treat

Posted 8/21/12

It’s a little spooky how quickly the year has flown by. Seems like only yesterday that I was writing about the darling buds of May making their first appearance and making plans for the lazy, hazy …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Trick or treat

Posted

It’s a little spooky how quickly the year has flown by. Seems like only yesterday that I was writing about the darling buds of May making their first appearance and making plans for the lazy, hazy days of summer—which are now a thing of the past. In fact, when I awoke yesterday, there was literally frost on the pumpkin, and I began the mildly arduous task of digging out the long johns and putting my patio furniture away for the winter. As always, I’m a bit behind schedule.

It seems that with each passing season, I become more and more nostalgic over my “Wonder Years” childhood; and while reminiscing, I find myself (frighteningly) sounding a bit like my own grandfather, who would regale me with stories from his youth, and how life was simpler then. I suppose it’s only natural that the holidays conjure up ghosts from the past, and although I’m a bit of a fraidy-cat, Halloween has always been a favorite. Long before Internet shopping and store-bought costumes, my mother was busy instilling creativity in my young mind. I can recall running from door to door with my pals in homemade getups that neighbors would coo over when opening their doors for me and my friends as we gleefully roamed the streets, filling our sacks to the brim with treats that were doled out until Christmas with dire warnings of future scary visits to the dentist.

While living in the big city, I used to lament over Halloween being commercialized, but living in the country where we still celebrate small town life, kids in the Upper Delaware River region still have an old-fashioned good time. I love seeing them cavort through the streets, shrieking with glee, flashlights in hand, as they knock on doors and squeal “trick or treat!” just like we used to do.

Although I’m not ready to live in an “adult community,” there aren’t a lot of children in my neighborhood, but I managed to find some grownups last weekend playing dress-up for a good cause. For the second year in a row, the folks at WJFF invited a troupe of “girls” from New York City to drag themselves to the Catskills and entertain supporters of the station (www.wjff.org) in order to raise funds to support public radio in the form of their newest review, “Lip Service.”

The troupe, known as “WIGSTICKS,” provides a “multi-media theatrical drag production of live stage performers who sing, dance and whatever else a girl needs to do to entertain” (www.wigsticks.org). When paired with volunteers from the station strutting a makeshift runway in haute couture that the audience can bid on, the “ladies” provided “an unforgettable evening of bawdy adult humor” during the evening, dubbed “Café Risque.” It being so close to Halloween, there were some guests who showed up in wigs of their own, and the event, hosted by WJFF General Manager Adam Weinreich, was a “huge success” according to the WJFF website.

Since I was in attendance with the pooch, I would have to agree, and although I bid on more than one of the outfits being modeled, I went home empty-handed, but knowing that my donation was going to a good cause. The show itself was (IMHO) more than a little “bawdy,” and while hardly a prude, I found myself blushing on more than few occasions. Hitting the stage with gusto, the “girls,” sporting outrageous outfits, did indeed sing and dance with comedy thrown in the mix, but some of the humor was too “adult” for me. Don’t get me wrong—I can enjoy a good dirty joke as much as the next guy, but some of the material is probably better suited (IMHO) for a less rural audience. MC Weinreich was entertaining and even strummed the guitar a few times, and the bidding frenzy on the outfits being auctioned off brought in some much needed dollars for the station, so all in all, those attending had a swell time.

While it may be frightening that Halloween is already here, the show definitely put me in the mood to go out this weekend and observe the kids in their costumes, many of which are still handmade, and revel in the last of the autumn leaves fluttering to the ground, before the scent of turkey and pumpkin pie begins to fill the crisp fall air. I’ve yet to pick out an outfit for myself, but there is a plethora of family-friendly Halloween events (see page 19) happening throughout the region, and I suspect I’ll hit more than a few over the weekend. That in itself, should be quite a treat.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here