Here are the highlights of all the happenings (thus far) for Halloween and end-of-year holidays:
– The Halloween party thrown by Jess (see archived lead story) attracted a ton of people to Guv’s Place in Houlton, and maybe that’s what distracted a decoration witch a block away who ran into and speared a telephone pole. One of the newer bartenders found herself without a costume, but found she could easily get one of Jess’ old ones — all she needed do is ask. As for the decorator supreme, she was putting up the last of her outdoor decorations late last Friday and then said, “I have to go home and get a head.” And again on the late side, the guy being electrocuted on a rack did indeed show up, between two scary trees in an outdoor tent.
– Speaking of Guv’s, I have a newfound neighbor from North Hudson who I did not know about until I encountered her in Houlton, several miles away from home. It turned out that she lives just a block away, and she told me her daughter is one of the neighbor kids who just loves my moving-props Halloween display, and talks about it starting in spring!
– But here are the best costumes from the first of the two Halloween-Party weekends: The Geico motorcycle guy (who definitely beats Flo), and left some of his dollar bills scattered on the aisle floor at Dick’s Bar and Grill. He was all covered with them but his face, and said they were actually Monopoly money, mostly hundreds, to show that he indeed has the money to throw around. Then there was the guy dressed up as a human pinata, complete with carrying a stick to whack himself with. The counterpoint to that was a woman wearing two small sombreros where they shouldn’t be. Kozy Korner had at their party a technician in a zoot suit who had a helmet brimming with pipes and valves. The Village Inn best costume prize went to a (Big Head Todd and Monsters themed) noggin the size of a wheelbarrow. They also had a woman with all the right curves to emulate a lifesize martini glass.
– Just before the holiday, I saw a black cat crossing the freeway in front of my car late at night (how it got on the four-lane road, I have no idea). And OK, it was not pure black, there were some white spots.
– When Woody’s in Bayport held its annual Zero to Blitzed run recently, as well as during a bachelorette party at Dick’s Bar and Grill, in both cases there were a foursome who wore masks held up by a stick. They looked much like those sported by my roommate in college (slightly unpleasant memory).
– Members of the Half-Ass Morning Show on 93X radio said that at least one of them had received guitar lessons from Jeff Loven, the one-man-band guy who plays locally. However being this time of year, they questioned at length whether his name was indeed Jeff Coven, as in witch?
– This is a good season to recall someone — or something — I saw in a yard along the main drag in North Hudson while coming back from the Village Inn. It was a guy in a demonic hockey mask, jersey and stick, looking much like the bad guy in one of those horror movies. Maybe I should lay off the sauce for a while.
– My first siting of Halloween costuming for the season was at The Village on Saturday, Oct. 12, when some zombies showed up. That’s much like the Zombie Pub Crawl in the Twin Cities, done about the same time, that has always attracted plenty of Hudsonites, and leading the way is my friend and former karaoke-meister Opal, who now lives there. But the hottest zombies were at The Village last Saturday (actually they were virtually all of the servers).
– My friend Tom suggested it might be topical to go as Lady Gaga, in her awards show attire covered in red meat. He did acknowledge that the meat dripping with blood might attract too many vampires.
– Patrons at the party of the two-story Willow River Saloon last Saturday were treated to a monster or two shown as shadows perched in an upstairs windows.
– Pudges Bar gets the nod for the most realistic-looking mummy, a lifesize one propped up by the pay phone.
– The Willow River Players used the opportunity to downsize the stuff of their costume and props department, with a storage unit sale, and maybe the place where the aforementioned classic mummy came from.
– Dick’s was one of many places brimming with spider webs, to the point where one tall guy got his mohawk caught in them while shooting darts and started thrashing around. A short distance away, there was a glowing monster with only his extremities remaining. Reminds me of Ozzy singing, “pair of boots dancing with a glove.”