Besides the classic traditions of trick-or-treating or dressing up for Halloween, students have their own unique traditions.
Ashley Freer, a junior communication major from Santa Clara, still goes trick-or-treating every year and likes watching the not-so-scary spooky movies, like “Hocus Pocus,” all day long on Halloween. This may seem like classic Halloween traditions, but one not-so-classic tradition Freer has is looking for ghosts with her friends.
Below the Walmart in Washington is a small trail. Freer said she and her friends were walking on this trail at night when they came across a person.
“We could have sworn it was a ghost, and ever since then we have gone ghost hunting,” Freer said.
For Jessica Leavitt, a junior communication major from Gunlock, this will be her first year dressing up willingly for a party. Leavitt said she doesn’t typically dress up for Halloween and trick-or-treating, but she does enjoy visiting The Corn Maze at Staheli Family Farm.
“I’ve gone to The Corn Maze every year around Halloween,” Leavitt said.
A unique tradition Madison Frasier, a freshman elementary education major from Kaysville, has is eating chili on Halloween night, and she also goes to Frightmares at Lagoon every year. And, like Freer, Frasier enjoys watching “Hocus Pocus” during this frightening season.
Macklin Johnson, a sophomore general education major from Mayfield, used to go trick-or-treating a lot, but now that he is in college, he enjoys going to events like Halloween dances.
Joanne Maurer, a senior integrated studies major from Glendora, Calif., did all the classic traditions when her kids were little, like throwing parties, carving pumpkins and bobbing for apples. Now, even though her kids are grown, she still gives out candy, decorates her office and decorates the outside of her house with fun, not scary, decorations like pumpkins, scarecrows and a glow-in-the-dark skeleton.
Sandy Petersen, an assistant professor of elementary education, said all her Halloween memories revolve around being in elementary schools.
Petersen said the schools usually had parties for the kids with activities like bobbing for apples, drawing on pumpkins and parading around the school dressed in costumes.
“Here at the college, the little kids from the preschool get all dressed up and come into all of our classrooms, and the (college) students just love and enjoy that,” Petersen said.
A unique tradition Petersen still does is make homemade pumpkin pie.
“When my kids were little, and I still do it on Halloween night, I bring in the pumpkins that have been decorated, scoop them all out, peel them, and make pumpkin pie from real pumpkin and roast the seeds,” Petersen said. “It’s a lot of work, but it keeps me busy and in the kitchen, and I just run and answer the door every time the doorbell rings.”
People hand out many different things to trick-or-treaters as a way to be healthier, such as toothbrushes, apples or pencils. But Petersen is all about keeping the tradition of handing out candy.
“It’s got to be candy,” Petersen said. “Toothbrushes for Halloween are a travesty. That’s just the opposite of what Halloween is all about. Halloween is about cavities and candy, candy and cavities. [There are] no toothbrushes at our house, just lots of good chocolate.”
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