Halloween is a tradition that has ancient roots. Fall celebrations date back to the very dawn of time. It seems there is something intrinsically human about wanting to celebrate the bringing in of the harvest and the changing of the seasons.

Recently, local seniors gathered together at the Greater Bradford Senior Activity Center to share some of their memories of the holiday with readers of The Bradford Era.

“I can remember when I was a kid you just went out and walked right down the road for trick-or-treat,” said Carol Steck. “You went out at sunset and came back with your pillowcase full of candy and nobody worried about it.”

Deb Bennett recalled that she used to start at her house in Duke Center and trick-or-treat all the way to Oil Valley. There was one lady on her route who would give the children money instead of candy.

“One lady always gave us a dime and we thought that was just the best thing in the world,” Bennett said.

“We always wanted to make sure we got to her house early.”

Steck’s neighborhood also had a woman who gave dimes to trick-or-treaters.

“Her name was Mrs. Hooker and she would always have us come in and get a drink of cider,” Steck said.

One of Bennett’s favorite Halloween memories is of hosting a haunted house for the local Girl Scout troop.

“My husband always loved to dress up as Dracula even though the other leaders were creeped out by it,” she laughed.

Betsy Cutting, who was born and raised in St. Marys, recalled that her town held trick-or-treat on two different nights. She also remembered that the weather used to be much colder at the end of October.

“They used to have to shovel the driveways and sidewalks for us to go trick-or-treating,” Cutting said.

Cutting’s mother was a seamstress and used to make elaborate costumes for her and her siblings. One year, she made them all the characters from “The Flintstones” cartoon.

“Another year when I was very tiny she made me a wedding gown and stood me on top of the table,” said Cutting. “I stood very still because I didn’t want to fall off the table so people thought I was a mannequin until I moved.”

In addition to their pillowcases full of candy, the ladies recalled that they also used to play a fair amount of tricks.

Anna Mae McMurtrie remembered a time someone played a trick on her mother by stuffing the area between their main door and screen door full of corn stocks.

“Then when she opened the front door, the corn stocks would fall on her,” McMurtrie said.

When she opened the door, her mother simply laughed and said that now the pigs would have something to eat.

Another year, she and her husband tricked children by taking a round table and cutting a hole in it that they put candy on and placed out for trick-or-treaters. She hid underneath and frightened them by reaching her hand up through the hole.

Steck recalled that she and her friends used to toilet paper houses in the town of Eldred.

“I lived in the country but I would ride into town with my girlfriend,” she remembered.