Of These Mountains
The Halloween Carnival By Kendall R. Rumsey
I
’ve never been a big Halloween guy, even as a child it wasn’t my thing.
I enjoyed trick or treating and giving out candy, but the costumes and revelry that goes along with it all just isn’t in my wheelhouse. Although Halloween was never my favorite day, I did always enjoy the annual Halloween Carnival as a kid. The Halloween Carnival took place in the old Rabun County High School gym, what today is known as the Rabun County Butler Building adjacent to Clayton Elementary School. If my memory serves me right, the Halloween Carnival was space in costumes. Along the perimeters of the gym, games of all sorts met those in attendance. Bobbing for apples, spin the prize wheel and
would cast your line over a burlap wall and within seconds a over the burlap wall, a brown paper lunch sack was attached
to booth collecting toys and candy, anxious to tear into it once I got home. The men’s and women’s dressing rooms were transformed into rooms was a kissing booth. As much fun as all the booths were, the real action took place in the center of the gym at the Cake Walk. The Cake Walk was like a huge game of musical chairs. Thirty – forty chairs were arranged in a circle around center court. Local radio personality and sometimes Mayor, Apple Savage acted as MC, starting up the music and eliminating those left standing when the music stopped. Participants were competing for one of the many homemade cakes made by the ladies of our community. Every type of cake imaginable was on display and the competition was heated to win one of those delicious creations.
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As the night ended, mama and I would head home, with a loot of candy and if we got lucky, a freshly baked cake. Sometimes daddy would have the porch light turned off signifying the end of the night. Today, Halloween carnivals aren’t as prevalent as they used to While in my mind, the Halloween Carnivals held in the old gym can never be replaced, it is still fun to see the community get together and make a special night for the little ones. Decorated car trunks have replaced the booths, but the intent is still the same. And while I have not seen a great cake walk in years, local businesses, churches and community organizations make sure these events are memorable. Each year, the largest Trunk or Treat event takes place at the Rabun County Recreation Department, dozens of trunks, hundreds of kids and thousand of pounds of candy create a safe and community friendly atmosphere, with the occasional spook and goblin in the Rec Department’s Haunted House. Halloween was never a big day for me, but these community style events of the past and today are exactly what make me proud to live in Rabun. This year, the Rabun County Recreation Department will celebrate Halloween with Trunk or Treat at the Rec Center, th . Kendall Rumsey is a resident of Clayton, Georgia. He is owner of the lifestyle brand Of These Mountains and author of the blog, Notes from a Southern Kitchen. www.ofthesemountains.com www.notesfromasouthernkitchen.com
