Growing up trick or treating in Sweetwater was a lot of fun.
In the early 1970s, my family lived on McCaslin Avenue. At that time, there were a lot of children who lived in and around that area.

I would go trick or treating with my older sisters and some of the older children who lived in the area while my parents would hand out candy way into the night.
When I was 7, my family moved out to the country.
There weren't enough houses or children around to go trick or treating and we didn't bother to drive into the "city" to trick or treat.

So I did the next best thing.
I turned to using destructive fireworks with my neighbor, one of the few kids that lived out in the sticks with me.

As soon as we finished with the Fourth of July, we would start planning what type of fireworks we would buy and what we would blow up for Halloween. It's a wonder we have any fingers left.
We stuck bottle rockets down the barrels of BB guns only to have the rockets not fly off but instead explode in the barrel. I remember getting my eyelashes burned one time when that happened.

That was a long time ago and now that I have a daughter of my own, Halloween is a lot of fun again.
Most years, Marie and I have taken Lauren down Mayes Avenue and the surrounding streets. That area is even popular with families from other towns and I have heard residents there say they can spend $100 or more on candy as close to 2,000 trick or treaters might come through.

Last year we did some alternative trick or treating and did not hit downtown Sweetwater and I am not sure what we will do this year.
However, wherever we go, Marie has threatened to dress me up in poster board as the King of Hearts since Lauren is going as Alice in Wonderland.
I am going to try to talk her into letting me just use the same $2 Jason hockey mask I have used for the last three years no matter where we go!

We are blessed to live in East Tennessee where the weather is usually very nice around Halloween with the average high in the mid 60s.
The last few years it has even been much warmer than that, however as of Thursday, the Weather Channel's 10-day outlook has our high around 57 with a 30 percent chance of rain this Halloween.
That's a long way off so we will see.

I picked up an information sheet from the Sweetwater Police Department with some good trick or treating safety tips. They include:
• Make sure young children are accompanied by an adult or responsible teenager when they go door to door.
• If parents can't go with their children, the youngsters need to trick or treat in familiar areas with well-lit streets.
• Take a flashlight, decorate costumes and candy bags with reflective tape, walk on the sidewalk and if there are no sidewalks, walk on the left side of the street facing cars.
• Don't eat unwrapped candy. Inspect all candy before eating.
• Look for costumes that are flame resistant, bright and easily seen by motorists.
• Avoid baggy costumes and high-heeled shoes.

Have a safe and happy Halloween!
tommy.millsaps@advocateanddemocrat.com | 337-7101