84-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 30, 1999 On Being a Farm Wife (and other hazards) Joyce Bupp It’s a trick. Maybe it’s a treat. Halloween is now the second biggest holiday of the year. Retail-market wise anyway. Go figure. The plastic pumpkin on the doorstep, the cardboard skeleton gently spinning in the window, the apples and popcorn in the trick-or-treat bag has been replaced by all the creativity of modern mass marketing. Tall, lighted plastic statues of life-size witches, ghoulish ghosts, green and black assorted monsters and miscellaneous goblins brighten urban and rural lawns. Strings of pumpkin, or ghost ly, or witch-shaped lights cast ghastly glows over porches, fur ther accessorized with doormats which scream when stepped on. Spooky music plays from micro phones protectively stashed in bushes near the front porch. Scarecrows, some cheerfully grinning, others of a nature one wouldn’t want to cross paths with in a dark, lonely place, greet us from their perches guarding over yards. And when you least expect it, you’ll walk smack into an ugly, belegged plastic tarantula dangling on a piece of near-invisible finishing line from an overhead roof or awning. While once it was primarily little kids who donned make believe costumes, adults getting into the fun have generated whole sideline businesses of out fits. You can don a Dracula tuxe do or masks fashioned after assorted national politicians; which is the scarriest is a matter of personal opinions. One of my favorite adult-par ticipation Halloween stories came from a tall friend of ours, who cajoled his wife into sewing Feel Great! 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Clowns, assorted animals, princesses and cartoon charac ters are perennial favorites with little kids, with heavy emphasis this year on Pokemon critters. And don’t forget the pink or yel low hair spray and the washable monster makeup. Setting if all off is that crown ing finish to all Halloween dis plays which just cracks me up every time I see it: polyester spi der webs strong across house entrances and porch columns. (If we could only figure out how to ensnare telemarketers with the stuff.) Hey, none of that artificial spiderwebbing in this all-natur al house. We have the real things. Not that that’s necessarily anything to brag about, mind you. Like oodles of other seasonal ly-decorated homes, our spider webbing stretches across the porch corners, farther authenti cated with the dark, sinister look added by road dust which has settled over the last couple of weeks. Not particularly to the liking of the originating spiders. I also spotted a really impres sive one last week strung from the bathroom mirror cabinet up to a nearby curtain rod. And a veritable spider-web urban sprawl is gobbling up space over the basement ceiling’s exposed beams. I had intended to dangle from a piece of fishing line the large, ugly plastic spider that has been DISTRIBUTORS WANTED Ask about our other products available I ■* ® a standby toy for kids here for the last 20 years A grandson pronounced that it would instead occupy a spot on the stump in the front yard which it did until falling leaves buried it somewhere We may find it in time for St. Patrick’s Day. We also have the obligatory seasonal pumpkins. Not plastic. Not plug-in. Fully 100 percent natural. Our shapely, jack-o lantern types went home with the grandkids. These remaining ones are fat, decidedly lopsided, and a dark red-orange color. Actually squash, they’re useless for carving faces, but superb for “pumpkin” pies. So while the scarecrow I planned to design never got out of the rag bag, nor did the corn stalks walk in from the field and tie themselves in shocks to the front fenceposts, we do have a few all natural, Halloween deco rations. But, in spite of these meager efforts, we find ourselves once again running behind in the holiday decorating game. One day last week I trotted into the garden and seasonal items of a local retail center, pre pared to wade through Halloween stuff in search of a pair of cotton garden gloves. In true seasonal response, the hair stood up on the back of my neck and I let out a gasp of fear at what I encountered. Christmas carols boomed out above the shelves of red and green merchandise and tiny fake pine trees. Now that’s scary. GoodvUle Mutual New Holland, Pa affordable insurance lor home, vehicle, small business, larm SAVE ,10%, Our kernel processors effectively increase milk production by making more nutrients available to your cows. To Share ELIZABETHTOWN (Lancaster Co.)— The 1999 Hunters Sharing the Harvest (HSH) program is expected to channel thousands of pounds of donated venison to local food banks and soup kitchens. As it has for the past eight years, the venison sharing project encour ages successful hunters to turn over part of their deer meat to help feed their hungry neigh bors. Last year, the generosity of Keystone hunters make it possi ble for more than 200,000 Pennsylvanians to enjoy meat meals made from donated veni son. In 1999, hunters across the state are expected to donated upward of 85,000 pounds of venison. HSH Coordinator Ken Brandt thinks the 1999 goals can easily be met. He says, “With 7 million pounds of venison har vested in the Commonwealth each year, this humanitarian goal is well within our reach.” Pennsylvania’s food banks are also looking forward to a bountiful year. “Those in need of Call 800-448-4622 lor an agent near you Process Silage With Your Harvester Limited Number of Units Available For • John Deere 3950 & 3970 pull type • John Deere 5000 series self propelled Model 60 Blower Process silage at the silo. Ideal for high moisture corn Hunters Urged Venison food assistance are greatly helped by donations of this leam, protein-rich food source,” said Joyce Rothermel, executive director of the Great Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. “In this a time of economic prosperity for many. But, to help those left behind in deepening poverty, we turn to hunters and meat processors to make their dona tions of venison during the upcoming deer hunting season. Area coordinators are needed to encourage hunters in their communities to participate in HSH, to contact local meat processors, talk to food banks and to get hunting clubs to join the venison donation bandwag on. The more local participation, the more successful the project will be. Interested volunteers should contact Program Coordinator Ken Brandt, 3317 Turnpike Road. Elizabethtown, PA 17022. Telephone (717) 367-5223. Fax (7l7) 367-4316. Ken can also be reached by e-mail: keystnken® aol.com Silage Roller Mill Roll high moisture shelled corn or process chopped silage from your silo to a feed cart. Sa