Happy Halloween!!

Haven't written a post in a while, so figured I'd put a few thoughts on paper and post. After all, it is Halloween and time for some spooky stuff, right?

Tonight was our Halloween in our little village in Ohio, USA. We (hubby and I) always get in excess of 200 people. Today we handed out nearly 300 pieces of candy, most children getting only one piece and only a few parents receiving some for their hard work.

You see, on the street where I live the village administrators always hand out hot dogs and popcorn. There is a huge number of people that come from within the village and surrounding communities to participate. So, of course they take advantage of the homes on the street and the crossroads. We have such fun. I was a hippie and hubby was wizard. He really enjoys Halloween when he is not at the firestation (every other year.) He's like a kid in a candy shop...well guess he is in a candy shop of sorts. Only he hands it out. He always makes the kids say "trick or treat" and thank you. He says they are not getting it for nothing.

I love what our community does because it's safe. There are extra patrol on duty that night and the cruisers are always nearby. They cruise ever so slowly down our street and make sure everyone is behaving. They will stop and talk to the teens (yes they still trick or treat) and are there on the spot if something unusual does happen.

Our community also has the high school band leading a parade that travels a short distance to the original school where the costume contest is held. The judges are people from the school. I think I even won an award one year. This is another reason why so many attend our community celebration.

My grandchildren came by to see me. I had the family with the 7 year, 5 year and 8 month old stop by. Also, our 14 year old (Mia from the post The Wilds) also wanted to stop by and hand out candy. She was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. She comes every year to do this with us. she stays for about an hour and then returns to her home to go out with her friends for about 45 minutes. Isn't that so thoughtful? You know we were prepared for that and some special treats for them.

Tomorrow I head down to Cincinnati to see our other 5 grandkids. Those of school age attend a private school. I've been there once before for Halloween, but not to the school. The school allows the children to dress up -- in costumes of historical people who they have done research and a report on -- and the children have a parade. I'm told the folks get there early enough to set out lawn chairs just as they do for a regular parade. Then the kids have about 20 minutes in the classroom for a very short party. The kids don't know I'm coming, but will be delighted when they find me watching this wonderful parade. They are such a very warm group of children, always running to greet me, screaming "Gramma" and hugging me like they haven't seen me in years. Now can you think of anything that warms the heart more? It really is better than those "daddy's home" scenes you see on Hallmark commercials. LOL

And finally, I will be that great looking red-headed hippie from the 60s. I don't know how I managed it, but I found a cheap wig that is almost exactly the same color my hair was before I got grey (or ashen) hair. I could fool anyone into thinking I was still a young lass just looking for fun and wanting to hand out flowers. LOL again.

Well, I don't like to make a post without making a connection to our business. We were in the business of handing out candy today and making children smile. We were quite successful, but could not have accomplished as much as we did without a few critical things:

• We had to prepare -- if not we would surely have run out of candy and had some very unsatisfied customers. That was not going to happen again. We prepared by looking at our history, which meant we had to keep good records. Just like in our business -- Prepare, record, modify.
• Help from community -- if there was none, the word of what was available for our customers would not have gotten out as effectively. Sure, Joe and I could have posted a sign in the yard -- 300 pieces of free candy on Oct 29 -- and maybe even put an ad out in the local paper. But nothing was as important as the community participating in this effort. Just like in our business -- community involvement helps support your authenticity.
• An environment of trust -- the customers had to know they could trust that the product would be available and trustworthy as it has in the past. We have always provided good treats, safe treats, in a safe environment. How did we provide? From our history and paying of local taxes. We support what the community does with a trustworthy response. Just like in our business -- Kyle and Carson have established a trustworthy Affiliate Program. We support what they do and pay our dues to participate in the program. Because we do, and we do all the rest that needs to be done, we get traffic. We can satisfy our customers.
• Reliability of repeat performance -- we stay the course. We don't close our doors early because of lack of planning or not enough product. We never give up. One year we did run out. Do you think we closed the doors? No Way! Joe ran up to the store and got more candy. That year our neighbors also ran out so he picked some up for the neighbors. We were all able to provide adequately.

The spooky stuff is even a fun holiday like Halloween can be correlated to our businesses. We can have fun if we do the work and we never, never, never give up. We even depend on each other to "pull us up" when things don't go smoothly. Everything is just like our business, or better stated I think, our business is a true reflection of our lives

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Hope you enjoy this almost as much as you enjoy the holiday. We had a grand time and are looking forward -- already -- to next year.

To all, Happy Halloween and remember, there is no finish line so enjoy the journey. May your journey be filled with laughter, love, joy and hope...and most importantly a sense of Peace in the knowledge that you are in the right place doing the right thing for you.

donna