Halloween 2008

As I've mentioned before I live in a very small town in rural NW PA.  Among other things I rarely see a child for trick or treat on Halloween.  I'm sure there are blocks in town that do see the monsters, goblins, witches and fairies but my street is small and San Francisco steep and until my grand twins joined me it had no children.

In 2008 Angie and the kids were living in Millvale which is a suburb of Pittsburgh and I decided to join them for Halloween. Millvale is a small community between Girtys Run and the Allegheny River.  It is often flooded, but it has a wonderful sense of community that I've not seen many other places.

There are wonderful stories about Samuel Girty, the first white settler.  Apparently he was captured by Indians, saw his father killed, and once released couldn't handle the transition to white society so he settled in what was to become Millsvale.  There is also some question as to his loyalty later when the Revolutionary War broke out. 

This was once a mill town and boasted about 7000 residents and is now a blue-collar suburb of Pittsburgh with about 4800 residents.  It is an area crowded with children and one that loves to get into every event.  For Halloween what seemed like hundreds of kids trick or treated the main roads of Millvale down to where the trolley was waiting  to take everyone back across town to the firehall.  Adults, many in costume lined the main road to give out treats, some coming from houses on side streets just so they could enjoy the sight.
The firemen were offering soup, hot dogs, fun and small toys to all the people who attended and it was packed.

The kids enjoyed being in costume with lots of other people, and I enjoyed being part of a "small town Halloween experience."