11/1/2009
By TIM UNRUH Salina Journal
Linda and Jennifer Favre were blocking the driveway with a family car, had finished their Halloween display, and Jack Favre was setting up scary sound effects, preparing for a crowd of trick-or-treaters on Highland Avenue.

The monsters and flashing lights were already in his 1994 Honda Del Sol, and a plastic jack-or-lantern was filled with tiny Tootsie Rolls.

It was minutes before 5 p.m. Saturday when neighbor Jackie Krob emerged with a sour expression. Her enthusiasm for the Halloween tradition in this neighborhood had waned.

Maybe it was the garbage disposer on the blink, or that their dog, Leonard, couldn't find his Shreck ears. The Krobs, who some believe started the Highland Halloween tradition in the late 1980s, were toying with skipping it this year.

"They come 15 to 20 at a time, pushing and shoving. The fun has gone," Jackie complained.

First to visit

But then came Nash and Foxx Culver, ages 6 and 4, respectively, of Salina, dressed like zombies. They were the first to visit 760 Highland, where the Favres reside.

Before Patrick Werth -- dressed as a pirate at John and Tara McGinty's house across the street -- could get his fake mustache to stick, the Krobs at 762 Highland, were back in the spirit, handing out candy and sounding a police siren. Jackie's attitude improved, thanks to the nice weather and the arrival of a friend, Nancy Williams, of Salina, to help hand out candy.

"That made it really enjoyable," Jackie Krob said.

Halloween parade

Once a year, a four-hour Halloween parade ensues from Prescott south to Republic and beyond.

"It's amazing," said Erin McGinty, Werths' girlfriend, who grew up at 801 Highland. A seamstress, she transformed Werth into Capt. Jack Sparrow, a character from the movie series "Pirates of the Caribbean," and dressed in character as Elizabeth Swan.

"I go all out every year," she said. "I used to go trick-or-treating ... and then come back to hand out candy. You see some of the craziest costumes."

Back in 1987

When Jackie and Curt Krob offered a haunted house in their back yard around 1987, word spread with help from local media, that Highland was a Halloween hotspot. It's been a busy neighborhood on those nights ever since.

Early on, Halloween brought around 400 to the McGinty's, Favres and Krobs, but those numbers have climbed. "We're at 1,500 right now," Erin McGinty said at 8:03 p.m.

Giving candy is as much fun as obtaining it. "One year, six Japanese tourists came by. They would stand and take pictures," Erin recalled. "I thought, 'Gosh, I'm going to be in somebody's vacation book.' "

The Favres beat their personal record in 2008, with 1,501 visitors. At 8:10 Saturday night, they had doled out candy to 1,370 people, keeping track with a mechanical counter.

That many trick-or-treaters can eat into the budgets.

"We go to Sam's Club and buy very large bags of candy," said Lois Jackey, Erin McGinty's grandmother, who also lives at 801 Highland.

The youngsters begin showing up around 5 p.m. "and it builds from there," continuing until 9 or 9:30, Linda Favre said.

Ghosts, goblins, princesses, even a Rubik's Cube and a man wearing a dresser and a lampshade, stopped by the Favres. Some were eating cotton candy. It was treat about a block to the south.

"We even had a little girl dressed as cotton candy," Linda Favre said.

Come from all over

A substitute teacher, Favre notices youngsters from all over the city, and from small towns surrounding Salina.

"Two years in a row, a St. John's Military School bus dropped off cadets," she said.

While the streets and sidewalks are crowded, Linda Favre said she knows of no one being hurt or property being vandalized since her family moved to Highland Avenue in 1984.

The mob can be startling, she said.

Be prepared

"The first thing you tell people when they buy a house on this street is to be prepared for Halloween," she said. "You either barricade yourself in the basement or hand out candy."

It's a "famous" place to trick-or-treat, said Darien Kelley, 15, of Salina. "Everybody who comes into town always hits Highland."

He accompanied brothers Charlie, 9, Tony, 7, and Jeremiah Kelley, 5, from Kansas City, with sister Tori Houltberg and her boyfriend, Steven Boyd, of Salina. After leaving Highland, the boys went to South Santa Fe and stopped by a few other homes, and each ended with a pillow case half-filled with candy.

"They said it was their best Halloween ever," Houltberg said.

n Reporter Tim Unruh can be reached at 822-1419 or by e-mail at tunruh@salina.com.

---

Discuss This Story:

---