Main Street
Revelers stalk the Meadows and other environs
By Mary Ann Cook
ALL HOLLOWS EVE AFTERMATH: OK, OK, I know Halloween is long past, but I wanted to relate some high spots. Up at the Meadows were several prizewinners for innovative costuming. For Most Beautiful it was Peg Dolton, a fairy godmother swathed all in billowing white plastic sacks.
However, did she construct it? She was assisted down the parade route by two stately witches. Then there was Les Knott, who won Ugliest as Red Riding Hood's grandma, clothed in Red's costume with wolf-head mask. Chuck and Ann Rainey were acclaimed Most Original.
They were outfitted as '20s era butterfly hunters in pith helmets and nets. You could tell they were surrounded by mosquitoes because they kept swatting the air around them. Most Ridiculous title went to Haru Baba, equipped as a witch doctor with bone in hair, grass skirt and alarming wig.
Mary and Ralph Hays won a special citation--for fooling the judges--in waiter and waitress getup. He wore a maroon jacket and carried a drink tray elegantly high. She was decked out in net stockings and brief skirt.
Judges were Patti Hughes, Ted Simonson, Shirley Henderson, Joe Pirzynski and me. Later, three resident judges bestowed prizes on costumed members of the staff. Judges were Curtis Moody, Louise Kelsey and Walter C. Brown.
ON TAIT: Over on Tait, a Halloween treat in itself, hostess MarLyn Rasmussen spotted more babies than ever--some 30 to 40 percent of treaters were under 6, she figures. Must be a population explosion underway: Halloween pageantry being her personal prognosticator for trends of all kinds.
One little muffin, not yet possessed of walking skills and outfitted as Tigger, crawled up all the steps at the Rasmussen house in order to claim his treat. Harry Potters were big this year, as were angels and princesses.
Taitmania extends to house decorations, as well. Witches fly down out of trees, eerie noises are rampant, cobwebs, vampires and ghouls abound. One display showed three costumed children lined up to go into a toxic waste shed. A sign pointed the way for the trick-or-treaters.
Going in they were dressed as a Dalmatian, a devil and a cartoon animal. When the three exited the shed, they were all costumed as skeletons. Nothing like an environmental message to go with the Day of the Dead celebration.
Civic-minded celebs on hand included Planning Commissioner Suzanne Muller as Red Riding Hood with wolf puppet on finger; Vice Mayor Joe Pirzynski as Darth Vader, wife Pam as a skeleton; council contender Paul Dubois as Clark Kent and wife Mary as Lois Lane.
OVER ON JOHNSON: For the fourth year Sharon Litvinoff and husband Marc orchestrated a Halloween block party on Johnson, ably assisted by Amy Hoffman and Virgil and Bettina Quisol. The street is blocked off for partying, culminating with a parade and potluck dinner.
And residents outdo themselves with house decorations. At one house is a Tunnel to Nowhere. Witches' legs hang from trees, luminaries and imaginatively carved pumpkins are aglow with candles and there are lights, lights, lights--more every year.
Strobe lights, black lights, smoke machines, animated sculptures--all in evidence. A (fake) chain saw-wielding teenager chased older revelers down the street. His victims were screaming with laughter, not fear, Sharon points out.
As for costumes, genies and Disney characters were big this year and one baby in a stroller personified a red pepper, hopefully without the bite. People meet new neighbors and the feeling of community spirit ran strong.
MISS PRE-TEEN: Monica Merchain, a seventh-grader at Fisher Middle School, won the title Miss Pre-Teen San Francisco and, as the title holder, will compete nationally in Orlando in December. Monica, 12, won a $1,000 scholarship, as well as a trophy, crown and banner.
Contestants are judged primarily on personality revealed through interviews. They also parade in casual and dressy wear. Monica thinks the reason she won over 49 others may be because she was more natural and dressed in a fashion more appropriate for her age. i.e., her dress wasn't long.
When asked whom she most admired, she named Madonna--for her talent and business acumen--probably an unexpected answer since it doesn't relate to either apple pie or world peace. Soccer and dancing are two other interests. Paul and Debi Merchain are her parents.
HOUSE TOUR: Margaret Scheer Elrod grew up in one of the houses on the recent museum house tour and related anecdotes to the present owners about the past, including her planting a tree on the Bella Vista property.
Owners Teri Hope and Jan Hutchins were about to leave, but were so taken by her stories that they stayed on to play host, treating her royally, with Hutchins camcording the visit.
TURKEY TIME: Thanksgiving Dinner for seniors will be held on Nov. 18, at noon at the Neighborhood Center with Chris Benson wielding the turkey baster. Canned goods constitute the price of admission, to be given to St. Luke's holiday food bank.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
