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Health & Fitness

Halloween History, Recipes, Crafts, Scarecrows

Make Your Own Harvest Traditions

Visit www.gswmu.com for fall recipes, crafts and scarecrow making ideas

Recently, I was working on a book for a children's series I write with my daughters called the Great Story World Mix-Up.  This particular story happens to be about a secret world of candy that suddenly turns sour when an Evil Wizard casts a spell.  Feeling a nip in the air and thinking about candy brought me right back to my childhood and Halloween.  

Halloween began as a harvest tradition, the name derived from All Hallows Eve, which was later shortened to Halloween. Traditions built up around the pagan rituals of Samhain and included putting candles in gourds or turnips to scare away evil spirits and giving sweets to beggars who would pray for the souls of loved ones since departed.  It was a spooky time of superstition and magic. 

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During the Victorian era these traditions took on a much lighter note.  People were more secure and continued to celebrate the successful harvest but in increasingly lively ways. They attended elaborate masquerade balls and divined futures using cards and dolls. Halloween became more of a time to spend with friends than to ward off evil spirits or celebrate the harvest.

1910 marked the commercialization of American Halloween but many traditions that began with purpose are still incorporated into our celebrations today. In the past farmers cleared out their fields under the full harvest moon in October, setting children on top of wagons piled high with hay to keep it in place as it was hauled to waiting barns, creating the first hay rides. Costumes in varying array are made and worn by children and adults alike. Sweets are still given to those who knock on a door though the tricks promised to stingy homeowners are discouraged today.  

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One tradition widely used both on farms and in celebrations are scarecrows. Scarecrows were first created to ensure the fertility of the land for growing crops and later incorporated as a method of scaring birds away, although this use is argued.  They were made of old clothes stuffed with straw left over from the harvest and placed in the planting fields on a post.

Today, many communities hold elaborate harvest festivals to celebrate the season.

Port Jefferson hosts a Harvest Festival the week before Halloween that features a Howl-O-Ween pet parade that will be lead by Amy Tyler School of Dance students performing a spooky hip hop number to Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Port Jefferson Harvests Festival will be held on October 27 from noon to 5PM and includes a haunted building walking tour, a chowder tasting contest and musical performances.  

“It’s a great day to be outside and visit our merchants and celebrate fall,” said Port Jefferson Mayor, Margo Garrant, noting that the pet parade is a highlight for visitors who enjoy celebrations that welcome furry friends.

The festival also features a traditional marshmallow roast where children use long sticks held over a bonfire to melt a sticky treat, hayrides leaving from the center of town and pumpkin carving at the Village Center.

“We look forward to this event every year,” said Port Jefferson resident Terri Schlegel, who mentioned that one of her favorite parts of the festival was viewing the scarecrows hosted by the Chamber of Commerce that are erected throughout the winding village streets.

The sights and sounds are added to by harvest crafts and cooking. My daughters and I travel to local farms to pick apples and pumpkins that we make into butter or spice cake using old family recipes.   

The left over apples are peeled and carve into faces that are dried in the oven until the apples shrink and turn leathery.  These become apple head dolls and are placed onto bodies we have sewn and stuffed over the years.  They are easy to make and can even be hung on strings if you don’t have time to make the body.

Magic spells, divinations, tasty pies, costume parades, scarecrows and pumpkins dancing with lights are all signs of the harvest season, a time seeped as much in tradition and superstition as it is in festivity and entertainment.  To learn how to make your own apple butter, scarecrows, apple head dolls, get Boo sheets and more  visit our website at www.gswmu.com where we will be posting our favorite fan crafts and recipes throughout the season.

 

 

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