Pat (Marilyn) is trying to see if blonds have more fun. 👱♀️ Her brother-in-law came out from Toronto to say his goodbyes as he has been diagnosed with terminal lung and kidney cancer, is walking with a cane and thinks it is the last time he’ll travel that distance. Her sister-in-law was a heavy smoker, but her cancer was detected early enough for surgery. She has been watching her grandson’s hockey games.
Elena did the Walk for Polio in the rain and met people who tried to persuade her to move to Vancouver. She had dinner and saw the DG actively taking photos and she was proud to be a Rotarian.
Gord (dressed and sounding like a Scotsman – sans kilt) says Hallowe’en is new to him, as they don’t celebrate it in the UK. Instead, they celebrate Guy Fawkes Day on Nov. 5 (he blew up the parliament – Guy not Gordon or at least we don’t think so). On Friday he (Gordon not Guy) received a call to participate in DG interviews, so he spent Saturday interviewing for the 2026-27 DG and Dean Hsieh was chosen.
Carolyn (Zorroette) says Hallowe’en is the favourite holiday for her little ones. Autumn inspired Carolyn to dress for Hallowe’en, with a gorgeous mask and hat, but it definitely upset Brynn. She has a bin of chocolates in her house which is constantly replenished. During the summer when the back door was open, a raccoon had his hand in the bin and stole an Oh Henry bar! Hope he doesn’t come trick or treating!
Chris M. was reminded of when her children were small, and they lived in France where Hallowe’en wasn’t celebrated. So, every summer when they came back to stay with her mom (Grandma), Grandma would arrange to have Hallowe’en in July, making all the doors in her and the neighbour’s houses ready for trick or treaters. She made them costumes, bought lots of candy and they had fun going trick or treating. Her kids always thought Hallowe’en was in the summer (until they moved back here permanently). Surprise!
Micheal had a birthday Sunday at home with the family, two bottles of champagne🥂 and a Denny’s breakfast the next day. He remembers Hallowe’en as the youngest of 4 brothers, being poor with little candy money. They didn’t have bags but used pillowcases instead (it turns out we all did – you get more candy like that). They were embarrassed so they went outside of the neighbourhood early, gathered candies and brought them home for giving out. He was the ‘go to’ boy at Cambie School for fireworks and firecrackers and became an entrepreneur early, selling bricks of firecrackers. (Don’t tell the CRA).
Peachy scared us all by Screaming in her son’s costume. Her Kamloops trip, in the rain, was a success and the new client was happy. Hallowe’en in the Philippines was All Saints Day, so they went to the cemetery for karaoke, drinking and praying overnight. 👺
Amanda ended her 100-day challenge and went to Cypress (may have ended up on a different mountain) but was surprised by hiking in knee-high virgin snow, gorgeous and fluffy. Hours later, they went to walk the Vancouver beaches, cancelled Joe Fortes, and opted for Mr. Cooper’s pies from Seafair. A rain check (or snow check) for Joe Fortes.
Susan was on zoom, wearing black. Ryan dresses up the cat in a prison costume and it suits him. For Hallowe’en, they give out candies and when Ryan was little, he liked the South Arm fireworks. Google just sent her 8-year-old photos.
Sam (coincidentally dressed as Sam) remembers the “no guns” rule but also remembers that he and Jake were allowed to dress up as mortal combat video game heroes, who were very violent characters (with no guns) who ripped people apart! Saturday was Justin’s twin brother’s wedding, with many references to Fast and Furious, as Sam was a great MC. Diane the bride is keeping her last name, for simplicity, but they were introduced by the officiant as Mr. and Mrs. Tanciangco – she was not pleased. 😡 Tuesday at gymnastics, Sam did his first back flip on the trampoline, with help. (no demonstration for us though BOOOOO 👻)
Bill came dressed as Garth in 1993. Sam was a good MC at the wedding, but chose Bill and Shelly to play in the shoe game and Shelly got so many wrong, including “who would last longer in the jungle?” (I wonder what Shelly would say about who got the most wrong?) Good news: Bill had a kidney stone named Rocky who wouldn’t leave, but the last ultrasound shows he has gone away completely!
Kal is just back from Mexico, and no one said anything about his tan. As a child he hated Hallowe’en, because his mom said you can’t go to neighbours asking for candy. He had some challenges with the tender in Mexico, but eventually got on and off. The great trip surprise was they did the same cruise years ago, and a young physiatrist recognized him! (Big deal I recognized him on Thursday). OH and Bobby the cheque is in the mail! (hahahahahahaha!)
Debbie M. is back from Kelowna. They were going to bring the trailer back, but left it parked in Kelowna. She never liked Hallowe’en because she doesn’t like to be scared, but went trick or treating anyways, with pillowcases, too, which they slept on that night. Her niece Koby is pregnant. Her son-in-law’s scan showed that the tumor is growing and they’re investigating surgery.
Judy Jailbird was wearing Ralph’s jailbird costume. She is just back from California and a Mexican cruise, and like a good Rotarian, went to the storage last night to look for her costume. She remembers wearing culturally inappropriate costumes for Hallowe’en and was a gypsy, an Indian (with cowboys), or a bag lady or a clown. We were unaware of the negative connotations in those days. She and her siblings would dump their candies, and she rationed hers, but her, brother ate his, and later in life he confessed that they would go into Judy’s well-kept stash!
Peter. was young and rowdy in Bella Coola, took dog poop and put it in a bag on the porch of the mean neighbour’s house. They did it every year and he was never the wiser (the neighbour not Peter - although who can tell). Telus phoned Jane, offering a 40% discount on everything, but Jane stopped listening when he wanted to know what our TELUS bill was. Peter then phoned TELUS and got a real deal. Note to everyone, if you see an email coming from Peter, with a company letterhead, etc. it may be bringing you a virus, so don’t open it. It went out to 370 people, and it looks legit, but isn’t!
Marg had bonfires on Guy Fawkes nights which were enormous, with a stuffed effigy thrown on the fire, eating gingerbread cake and hard toffee. Ben had lots of girl friends, and babysitters, who dressed him up as Pocahontas, Beauty and every female heroine. Then he got tired of Disney girl characters and wanted to be the H (won’t say hospital), so he used crutches and a fake cast, but after the 3rd house he couldn’t walk and that was the end of the H. They used to give out candies, go to South Arm and eat chili and bread and finger jello at their friends’ home. She went to Seattle and saw Seahawks game while Don went to Costco and Trader Joes. She saw “Someone Like You” at BMO and it was good, but not a must see.
Chris P. was in Toronto for a mortgage conference - no one knows what’s going to happen in the economy next! We can invite her as a speaker. She has PTSD since she was a kid on Mayne Island. The fire hall, school, and hall - everything was in the centre of island. The firemen always had fires, bobbing for apples, etc. and the whole community would gather. They made their own costumes, based on what they found in the closet. One year the ambulance came, as an older man (Bobo) and his nephew had had a fight at the bar. Bobo left and Mark, the nephew, decided to run Bobo over, hit him and killed him, and cut off his leg. No kids saw it, but adults, including her mom, went looking for, and found, his leg in the dark and brought it back for resewing. The next morning, they saw remnants of blood and veins on the road. Mark is still at large. Now that’s a Hallowe’en story!
Garth was in Harrison Hot Springs playing bridge and it was so beautiful, until the clouds came in and it started pouring, He is now on a list for spinal fusion, with 80 others. He is sending chocolates and scotch to his doctor in hopes of an earlier surgery date and will find out in November.
Debbie T. thanks everyone for support for the family. For Hallowe’en they used to go to the neighbours, pool resources and then go to the fireworks. They started with hot chocolate and the event grew to include two neighbourhoods, they ordered doughnuts, and even invited the police to watch until fireworks became illegal. Drew used to dress up and scare everyone with a dummy that people thought was him, until he appeared from elsewhere! They don’t get many kids anymore where they are now. Debbie was sick last week, after her Mediterranean cruise. Turkey was amazing, with fantastic stops and sites, but in Crete she became sick and couldn’t do much after that, having been dehydrated and ending up in the infirmary. It was difficult travelling back to Venice, and she went right to bed in the hotel, and after that didn’t go out much. The flight was terrible, and she was thankful to be back in bed at home. She is now taking Chinese medicine to get over the bacterial food poisoning.
Joyce is out of jail. She was home for 3 weeks, recovering from dental surgery, and is thrilled to see people. She was golfing at Country Meadows, parked her golf pull cart at the first hole and was surprised to see Evan, one of the group, running after her cart, which catapulted itself into the pond, credit card, clubs, snacks and phone flying into the water. Joyce kept laughing, as she was going to buy a new phone anyways.
John told us to watch “The Fall of the House of Usher”, where each chapter is named after a different Poe book. He attended the “100 Years of Football at UBC” dinner, and remembers he used to play in a leather helmet and weighed 240 lbs. as an offensive centre (now they’re all over 300 lbs). Frank Gnup was the long-time coach and John was his last recruit. Nowadays, they are wined and dined, but in John’s days, SFU got all the good players. He had tried out for UBC hockey and got cut, saw an ad in the paper saying UBC was looking for football players. Although he hadn’t played for 3 years since his days at Burnaby South, he showed up and was told by Frank to “get some strip”. Thinking he wasn’t going to make the traveling team, he got drunk and came home at 2 a.m., surprisingly made the team and had to be at the airport at 6 a.m. For Hallowe’en he used to blow up little toy men with firecrackers, putting crackers and pellets into the brass shells from his dad’s hunting rifles.
Melinda loved Hallowe’en, but they never had trick or treaters at her Richmond house where the houses were so spaced apart. But she always had good candy and the neighbour kids would come. She went to Cirque du Soleil on the weekend and the grandkids loved it. It lasted 3 hours, so they didn’t have time for White Spot.
Bobby used to have the best time at Hallowe’en, even if they didn’t have money. Nowadays neighbourhoods don’t seem to have the same connections as before. He was in Sacramento for a wedding last weekend, then went to L.A. for a football game and was amazed by the tequila, beer, etc. on carts everywhere. You can even order Uber Eats for a game day burger. It is amazing how much food and alcohol is available. He is doing it again in Seattle in November. (What diet?)
Bob had best time at Hallowe’en, with full pillowcases that they dumped and then went out again. But he doesn’t get any kids now. He used to go across the border to Bargain Betty to buy firecrackers to sell at a profit (don’t bargain with her or she’d phone customs). Then, deciding he didn’t want to get caught, he funded others (possibly Michael?) and made his 10%. He has the final plan for the house now, and thanks to a company in Abbotsford, was able to project the plan on a floor and he was able to walk through the house ‘virtually’ – much better than seeing the plan on paper - so they made some tweaks, and it was definitely worth the price of $1500. It is done in a warehouse, and apparently people were coming every two hours to see their houses projected on the ground, even having access to fake furniture for better visualisation.
.png)
