Despite the efforts of the Oklahoma City Council to redate and rename Halloween, All Hallows Eve WILL still occur on October 31, the efforts and wisdom of our City Council notwithstanding ... although we'll need to be prepared to pass out goodies on two days instead of one.

Anyway, I've started a post on Halloween 2010 in Okc (http://dougdawg.blogspot.com/2010/10/halloween-2010.html) ... it opens with a couple of tongue-in-cheek JibJab videos starring history geeks (like me) who are active in Retro Metro Okc, some of whom are active here, also.

The 2 videos below will appear much better if you will click on them so that they play in YouTube ... they are also better in my blog post. One does what one can with software limitations.

In the video below, and in order of appearance, the stars are ... Steve Lackmeyer, Retro Metro Okc president, Marc Weinmeister, Okc commercial developer and its treasurer, Norman Thompson, who seems to be related to all kinds of Oklahoma City legendary contractors and developers, Catherine Montgomery who heads up the historic preservation element of Okc's planning department, and last and least, me, a lowly member without title.

nPENgxZgDoo

The video below, in order of appearance, shows members Carolyn Cuskey, Dean Schirf, Justin Tyler Moore, Rachel Mosman, and AJ Kirkpatrick. Carolyn is a history professor at Oscar Rose, Dean is a retired high-ranking member of the Chamber of Commerce, Justin takes care of business at Retro Metro's website and hosts his own Abandoned Oklahoma, Rachel is engaged at the Oklahoma History Center, and AJ works in the Okc planner's office.

hERKnRBKXOs

The full post contains more, but perhaps this contains enough bait. But it you need just a bit more, see the event which will occur on October 30 at Mayan Trading Company and Istvan Gallery at 1218 N. Western showing the Day of the Dead ...

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/halloween/dod_10_30_2010_ds.jpg (http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/halloween/dod_10_30_2010_d.jpg)

Of course, the Gazette's parade, led by Wayne Coyne, leader of the the fabulous Grammy award winning Flaming Lips, and Halloween neighborhood embellishments, will also be shown.

Any specific reason why Halloween is a must on the 31st? I don't see how Thanksgiving changes around to stay on the last Thursday. Is it because the retailers or a group of people demand a change to benefit retailers and businesses to create a "Black Friday" holiday? Granted, it is not a holiday, but it appears to be in its own way. The majority can continue to celebrate Halloween on the last Saturday while those true to their own wicked religion can celebrate it passionately on the 31st.

As Doug said, be prepared to leave the light on, door open, and be out there on both nights just in case. We don't want a kid out there missing out when they choose to scream down the streets for candies on a chosen night. Also, be prepared to see the same kids on both nights, but don't deny them candies just because they came the previous night.

You know, you might be right. Why don't we move other long-standing holidays as might suit the perceived needs/temperaments of the moment. For example, why does Christmas need to be on December 25? In the long view, it's certainly not accurate about the actual date of Jesus' birth, as I understand it. So, I'm with you ... let's make all holidays movable feasts. I can live with that.

I learned that a few years ago more specifically how December 25th is not the accurate date. I'm trying to understand why some holidays are flexible while the others is not. Thanksgiving is not religious, not that I know of, so it changes many dates for the sole reason I believe is because of the political spin of Black Friday. Halloween is a religion for some, but for most, it is a fun day/night. This is a mess. lol

Thunder,

For some, Thanksgiving is religious in the literal sense of Giving Thanks to God for the Harvest and the many blessings. Now if you meant that it is not tied to a particular religious date, then I don't know. But here is some info from Wikipedia


Currently, in the United States Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November, and in Canada it is celebrated on the second Monday of October .

Thanksgiving in the United States was observed on various different dates throughout history. By the beginning of the 20th century, the final Thursday in November had become the standard day of Thanksgiving in most U.S. states. It was not until December 26, 1941 however that President Franklin D. Roosevelt, after pushing to move the date earlier to give the country an economic boost, signed a bill into law making Thanksgiving a national holiday and fixing it to its current date.[7]

Thanksgiving in Canada did not have a fixed date until the late 19th century, at which time it was typically held on November 6. After the end of World War I, Thanksgiving Day and Remembrance Day ceremonies were usually held during the same week. To avoid the two holidays from clashing with one another, in 1957 the Canadian Parliament proclaimed Thanksgiving to be observed on its present date.[6]

From what I have read over the years, it is more likely that Christ was born in July than December and don't recall why Dec 25th was decided on.

Think it was PennyQuilts that pointed out in another thread that many of our Holidays (Holy Days) were generally pagan or secular in origin and the Catholic Church "Christianized" many so as not to take away what little relief the common folk had to their daily existence as they converted to Christianity. Thus we have an odd mixture of non-related symbols etc with many "Christian" holidays such as Easter & Christmas. Even the word Easter has its origin in the honoring of the pagan Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre.

This mythical figure is said to have been the goddess of the sunrise and the spring. She is the Teutonic goddess of the dawn. The direction of the sunrise, East, is named for her. In Norse mythology, the name is spelled Eostare. Another considered the Norse/Saxon goddess of spring is Ostara. Eastre is believed to be an ancient word for spring.
Whereas the word Christmas is derived from the Mass of Christ or Christ's Mass.

Another Halloween 2010 video just finished ...

-Hxlv0n8wlo

why is this such a big deal that they moved it to Saturday?! I believe moore and norman have done the same. Sunday just not a good day to do Halloween, kids have school the next day and parents have work the next day. It's just a day earlier people

December 25th is the equinox I believe. It's on that day to worship the return of light (days begin to get longer), hence why we use Christmas lights. Jesus real birthday was somewhere in late September, I believe.

why is this such a big deal that they moved it to Saturday?! I believe moore and norman have done the same. Sunday just not a good day to do Halloween, kids have school the next day and parents have work the next day. It's just a day earlier people
It isn't that big a deal and I probably contributed to the discussion which is really superfluous to my original intent in starting this thread ... a focus on what is going on in town for Halloween this year.

OU has a home game the 30th that starts at 8:15.

OU has a home game the 30th that starts at 8:15.

Are you insane? I've never, ever seen a game start that late!

I want to add a final section to the Halloween 2010 blog post ... neighborhood homes and/or businesses that a dressed up to the teeth for the holiday ... and I'd like to use any that any of you would like to contribute, including attribution to the contributors, the general or specific location of the photos. I'd prefer the images to be 1024 px wide, depth doesn't matter.

Here's a few examples of what I mean ... they are not 1024 px but I'm working on getting higher res photos ... the photos are of Retro Metro Okc'er Justin Tyler Moore's home in Quail Creek ... ON EDIT ... I'm getting some high res images of the photos below as we speak and, once and if replaced at my Photobucket account by newer files with same names, some images shown below will probably be 1024 px wide ...

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/halloween/justin_2010_3.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/halloween/justin_2010_1.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/halloween/justin_2010_2.jpg


Any takers? My e-mail address is loudenbk@swbell.net .

Are you insane? I've never, ever seen a game start that late!

1995 was the last time OU had a game that started this late, ironically it was also also against Colorado.

That crawling baby in the undergrowth creeps me out. Wonder where they got it? I need one to creep my neighbors out.

That crawling baby in the undergrowth creeps me out. Wonder where they got it? I need one to creep my neighbors out.

He was the famous star of the movies..."It's Alive!"...no.1, 2, and 3

I live in Moore and am debating either putting up a sign saying we are giving out treats on OCT 31 or just having candy ready on both nights. When Halloween is on a weekday night I don't recall such a fuss. I went trick-or-treating many times on a school night and was find the next day. Sunset is at 6:47pm and the majority of kids are out while there is still a little light left in the West. We live in a busy neighborhood and last year our last trick-or-treater was around 8:30pm. I'd rather do it on Sunday because I plan on being in Norman Saturday night for the game.

I've gotten several new images from Justin about his "Nightmare In Quail Creek" series and they have been posted. As said before, I'd certainly welcome any others of really cool neighborhood neighborhood Halloween photos if any would care to share and have them included in the article.

Doug, you live in Mesta Park right?

MP has some of the most decorated homes I've seen, especially for one neighborhood.

Yeah. I'll take some MP & HH photos in the next day or two. But I wouldn't know where to begin, around town.

I've also heard Gatewood has one street that goes all out and people drive from all over town just to see and trick or treat. Not sure what street it is??

I'll have a look since it's close by ... Gatewood is immediately west of Classen between NW 23rd & NW 16th.

I've also heard Gatewood has one street that goes all out and people drive from all over town just to see and trick or treat. Not sure what street it is??

It's Carey Place. We had about 1800 last year. The police will block off the streets beginning about 7 o'clock.

Thanks.

These date changes are a fairly local thing. Most of the country never changes dates. It's because we're in the heart of baptist country. It has nothing to do with the next day being a school day. It happens during the week all the time. Do you all not recall when Halloween has been on a Wednesday and towns change the night to Tuesday instead?

Also, Christmas is on December 25th because back in the day, that's when the pagans celebrated Winter Night. The Catholic church moved Christmas to the same day to help convert them.


Note: I'm a christian. I am not hating on religious entities at all. But I still think it's silly.

If you go up to Stillwater for homecoming this weekend, then Tumbleweed has like a Halloween theme park going on.

Info at: http://newsok.com/tumbleweed-terror-rises-as-annual-halloween-theme-park/article/3500062