Another Halloween has come and gone with no real problems as far as I’ve heard, anyway.

It seems like every year we see fewer and fewer little goblins running around searching for a “treat”” without even a clue of what a “trick” might entail!

Since we enjoy trick-or-treating with our grandchildren, we carry a bag of small Mars bars with us and pass them out to little goblins we meet on the street because obviously we’re not at home to answer the doorbell!

It’s a surprise that seems to be really appreciated by the kids and their parents, who are asking themselves, Why didn’t I think of that?

Every year, however, it seems there are less and less spooks in the neighborhood.

So many of the traditions from my childhood are disappearing, and I don’t really understand why. I suppose, with all the advancements since then, ringing a doorbell for a bite of candy really doesn’t pack much of a wallop for kids these days.

Of course, back then the word “trick” carried a lot more threat than it does now.

Every kid carried a bar of soap to apply to windows of folks who didn’t bother to answer a doorbell. Some of them also had a reputation for being neighborhood grouches, and many kids with long memories kept that info deep in their minds all year while waiting for Halloween night!

We all thought that we really taught those crabs a lesson and would see a change of attitude during the following year. Wrong!

Most of the “victims” simply waited for the first sunny day and then came out with a bucket of warm water and a sponge to clean their windows since the soap had already been applied.

We city kids often heard tales from country cousins about outhouses being tipped over as a Halloween prank. But, hard as we searched, there simply wasn’t a two-holer anywhere in the neighborhood!

It seems now that most of our terrible tricks on Halloween were really quite harmless and, of course, we all had to be home five minutes after the street lights turned on, and unfortunately Halloween was no exception.

It was fun to watch the younger Elementary School children put on their costumes Thursday afternoon for the traditional Halloween parade throughout the building. They proudly marched through the upper-grade classrooms, showing off their costumes and failing miserably to frighten any of the “big kids!”

The folks who enjoyed the entertaining spectacle the most were, no doubt, the parents who lined the hallways and smiled at the antics of those on parade. There were several very realistic “Booos” in my direction.

Some of the costumes were so frightening, folks were glad to see Police Sgt. Pat Clark on duty. His “costume” made him somewhat of a “plain clothes man” during the colorful parade!

Throughout the afternoon and into the evening, our local kids once again showed us one of the things that make our town so special!

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Talk about a horrific Monday night in Green Bay!

Not only did the Packers lose on their own turf to the hated Chicago Bears, but they also lost the soul of the team to injury.

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers was knocked out of the game with a fractured collarbone in the very first quarter, and may be sidelined for weeks.

They are in a three-way tie with Chicago and Detroit for first place in their division, but if Rodgers sits out for more than a few games, the future is indeed questionable.

The School Board members pushed up their special tax levy meeting Monday night from 7 p.m. to 6:15 p.m., so they could get home in time for the Packer game on TV.

It might have been better to miss it!