10.31.2010 1C

Areyou sure youaren't buying thisfor a business,” theclerk at Rite-Aid

askedme as I pushedmy cartfilled with candy to the cashregister and amanagerlooked at my cart in amaze-ment.“I live near McKay

School,” I explained.They both understood.Almost 20 years ago, when

our family moved to Pendle-ton, I knew we were gettingsidewalks and flat streetsthat would help my childrenbecome bet-ter bicycleriders. Iknew welived conve-nientlyacross onecity park totheir school,enabling meto spy duringrecess. WhatI didn't knowis we hadmoved to trick-or-treatbliss. That first Halloweenwe had to go out for morecandy twice. The bell didn'tstop ringing. Since backingout of the driveway is a dan-gerous proposition on astreet filled with little gob-lins, we vowed never againto come up short on Hal-loween candy.Hence the filled to over-

flowing shopping cart. Ifthere's candy left over it willbecome packaging materialwhen I mail things to mykids. (And, I confess, a late-night snack for me.)There have been years

when the flow of trick-or-treaters wasn't as constantas it was other years. Once itsnowed. There have alsobeen several rainy Hal-loweens, which distinctlycut down on the number ofreally little kids that rangmy bell. I hate those years.Some people don't like

Halloween and put togetherharvest festivals for the chil-dren to enjoy. That's great.This holiday should beabout fun, however you haveit. After living through 60Halloweens I'm pretty surethe evening of ringing bellsand getting treats doesn'thave long-lasting, devil wor-shipping connotations forour next generation. The on-ly tricks that have beenplayed on me during allthose events have been atthe hands of my own rela-tions (who actually do thatall year long). The littleones, however, get very im-portant lessons in both mathand etiquette."You can have any three,"

I tell them as I hold out thebowl. Three is apparentlyoverly generous becausetheir eyes always grow wide.Then they count. And then,without fail, each and everyone of them says, "Thankyou."I say you're welcome, but I

really should say, "No, thankyou."Thanks for showing me

your costume. Thanks forasking for helping your tod-dler sibling count to three.Thanks for talking, underthe watchful eyes of yourparents, to strangers for onenight a year. Thanks for notrolling my yard with toiletpaper.To this adult, Halloween

isn't really a time of scaringpeople and roaming aroundlooking for mischief. It's atime for me to connect witha host of little girls andboys. As the troop ofprincesses and ghouls ringmy door bell it's a time toreconnect with the next gen-eration who — before youknow it — will stop trick-or-treating and get theirdriver’s licenses.That, my friends, is when

it gets really scary.———

"Home Front" by Terry Mur-ry is published every otherSunday. She may be contactedat tmmurry@hotmail.com.

Home front

TERRYMURRY

LIFESTYLESSUNDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2010 1C

By JENNIFER C. YATESThe Associated Press

In a block-long warehouse atthe McKeesport Candy Co.,wooden pallets are piled highwith boxes of candy fangs, waxmustaches, peanut butter andchocolate pumpkins, even abag of “blood” that resembles ahospital IV.“The grosser the candy, the

better it’s going to sell,” saysowner Jon H. Prince.While kids love gore and

gimmicks when it comes toHalloween— how can you notlove a pair of wax fangs? — ex-perts say children still aredrawn to the classics their par-ents favor when filling thefamily treat bowl every year.First on the list? Chocolate.“The truth is that there are

many tried and true candy fa-vorites, especially atHalloween,” says Susan Smith,a spokeswoman for the Nation-al Confectioners Association.“Holidays represent traditionand small traditional favoritesare the true kid pleasers onHalloween night.”Sixty-eight percent of kids

say they like to get treats madewith chocolate, while 9 percentgo for lollipops, 7 percent gofor gummy candy and another 7percent prefer gum, the associ-ation said.And last year sales of gummy

candies were on the rise. Butit’s not just the little colorfulbears you might be used to.Think gory gummy— eyeballs,tongues, fingers, brains, evenrats are all popular for Hal-loween.In all, Halloween candy ac-

counts for about $2.2 billion insales a year, the biggest holidayfor confections after Easter.New variations of traditional

treats help drive some of thosesales, Smith says. Bethlehem-based Just Born Inc., forexample, is known primarilyfor its marshmallow Peeps can-dies at Easter. This year, thecompany has added PeepsChocolate Covered Marshmal-low Pumpkins.According to Yahoo!, the top

searched Halloween candy on-line are Hershey’s chocolateand Kisses, followed by Snick-ers, gummy bears and gum.Candy corn, that icon of Hal-loween treats that dates backto the 1800s, is No. 10 on thelist.Halloween is the biggest and

busiest time of year for TheHershey Co., which makessnack-sized Reese’s peanut but-ter cups, the Hershey’schocolate bar, Twizzlers,KitKat bars and other candies.

The company said its most pop-ular brand at this time of yearis the Reese’s cup, as well as itschocolate and peanut butterpumpkins.“Reese’s is magic,” says Rick

Rocchi, who oversees market-ing of Hershey’s brands aroundseasonal events such as Hal-loween and Valentine’s Day.“Everyone remembers receiv-ing beloved Reese’s PeanutButter Cups during their Hal-loween adventures.”The miniature chocolate

bars known as “fun size” are abig Halloween seller for candycompany Mars, says Debra San-dler, chief consumer officer forMars Chocolate North Ameri-ca. New Jersey-based Marsmakes several special products

for the holiday, includingM&M’s Peanut Harvest Bags,Filled Bar AutumnMiniatures,and Dove Milk, Dark andPeanut Butter Harvest Promis-es.“Milky Way sells particularly

well during Halloween as it isa traditional family favorite fortrick-or-treating that parentsremember getting as children,”Sandler says.In Anoka, Minn., which

claims to be the HalloweenCapital of the World with a hol-iday parade that started in1920, Jen Thorkildson general-ly buys the smaller, snack-sizedchocolate bars to hand outevery year. And the 35-year-oldmom’s two kids, ages 9 and 7,also head straight for the

chocolate once trick-or-treatingis done.“The kids love getting 100

Grand Bars. Also a few peoplegive out full size bars and theythink that is really great,”Thorkildson says.In Pennsylvania, Britta Sil-

ver, 45, of Mt. Lebanon, buys sixor seven bags of candy for Hal-loween every year. A mom of7-year-old twins and a 4-year-old, Silver says she makes sureto buy candy like Reese’speanut butter cups and TootsieRolls that the family likes — incase there are leftovers.“My older boys usually go for

the chocolate candy bars first— Snickers and Hershey plainbars,” she said. “The little onefinds all the straws with thepowdered sugar in them, andeats those first, then finds allthe chewing gum.”Just a fewmiles away, work-

ers at the McKeeport CandyCo., which operates online asCandyfavorites.com, will befielding calls and taking ordersright up to the day before Hal-loween if necessary, saidthird-generation owner Prince.He tours the warehouse, stop-ping to show off the big sellersthis time of year, which includethe “blood” bags and even edi-ble insects.Prince said it’s easy to see

why kids — and adults, too —get so excited about candy. It’sabout selling a piece of thepast and bridging generations,he said, before pointing out abox of those iconic wax lips.“These are classic,” he said

with an excited smile. “Thelips have been around sincetime eternal.”

AP photo by Amy SancettaA Halloween creature holds a Hershey chocolate bar at a display inside Chagrin Hardware inChagrin Falls, Ohio. Experts say kids love the gimmicks at Halloween, but the classics, like thisHershey bar, remain strong sellers.

AP photo by John HellerThird-generation candyman Jon Prince poses at his family'sbusiness, McKeesport Candy Company, in McKeesport, Pa.Prince said it's easy to see why kids — and adults, too — get soexcited about candy. It's inexpensive and something thatbridges generations.

Can’t kill a classic Candy’sbiggestnight ofthe year

OOUURR VVIIEEWWSS

Novelties come and go,but chocolate reignssupreme in world ofHalloween candy

By DOMINIC BAEZEast Oregonian

She skims the shelves of Halloweenmake-up, her vision hawk-like in its inten-sity, looking for a particular item. Up, down,back to the top shelf, turning around, herblack hair flying every which way. As itturns out, finding silver body glitter is moredifficult than anticipated, despite the near-by walls being plastered in everything fromfake human blood to stringy witch hair.“How can they not have any?” she ex-

claims, throwing her hands in the air,knocking some cheap plastic vampire teethoff the shelf. As she reaches to pick themup, she shouts in excitement: “Yes! The lastcan! Awesome!” After greedily snatchingthe can from the shelf, sure it will be stolenfrom her if she doesn’t hurry, she continuesher Walmart shopping endeavor (in amuch perkier mood) to complete what shehopes will be a smashing success of a cos-tume: an eye-catching, if slightly subdued,Lady Gaga. “How can you dress as Lady Gaga with-

out being covered in shiny-ness? I got thefishnet stockings and the wig. Now I needall the sequin-covered material and bodyglitter I can get,” explains 19-year-oldAmanda McLaw. “I mean, everyone knowsthat you can basically see her from space.Did you see her ‘Telephone’ video?”McLaw isn’t the only one channeling the

well-known “Bad Romance” performer.And Lady Gaga isn’t the only cultural ref-erence from which everyone from collegestudents to soccer moms are drawing. Inwhat could be emblazoned as a “less is

more” mentality, the skimpy, scantily cladfigureheads of popular culture, including“California Gurls” singer Katy Perry (haveyou heard about her “Sesame Street” fias-co?) to Snooki of “Jersey Shore” fame to…Dr. Frank-n-Furter and Rocky Horror from“The Rocky Horror Picture Show”?“We just watched ‘Glee’ last night, and we

were inspired to re-create the costumes,”says Natalie Johane, speaking for herselfand her boyfriend while perusing individ-ual pieces. Their costume choice stemmedfrom Tuesday’s episode of “Glee,” titled“The Rocky Horror Glee Show,” a tributeto the cult classic 1975 film adaptation ofthe British musical stageplay. Johane saysshe is going as Dr. Frank-n-Furter, a self-proclaimed “sweet transvestite fromTranssexual, Transylvania,” while herboyfriend, Alex, will don the infamous goldboy shorts of Rocky Horror. “I look good inleather,” she quips, while refusing to delveany further into the subject. “Now I just need to find him a blond wig,

some spray-on tanner… I wonder if theyhave anything to help make it looks like hehas abs…” she muses. “He has a nice body,but some augmentation wouldn’t hurt,” shequickly backtracks.Johane plans on having some of the

show’s more popular numbers blaringfrom her iPod as she wears the costume,acting as a sort of theme song. “If you’re go-ing to go all out and wear revealing leatheror gold lamé short shorts, you might as wellgo the whole damn way,” she says, laugh-ing just thinking about the ridiculous

Going for Gaga

AP Photo by Richard DrewMeredith Vieira, co-host of the NBC “Today”television program, dresses as Lady Gagaduring their annual Halloween show, inNew York, Friday.

Even in Eastern Oregon, pop star’slook is a popular pick this Halloween

See GAGA/4C