A Taste Of Winter Can't Chill Halloween

  Eric Chandler’s Halloween appearance as Superman on the PRF&P blog may have succeeded with flying colors. But I wish Batman could also have flashed his cape. Maybe he could have prevented Mr. Freeze from socking the Gotham metro area just before Oct. 31. Who would have predicted that? Who could have believed there’d be snow covered ground right on Halloween? Even the Joker would think that was a joke.  

   I know Commission Gordon isn’t laughing. Out where I live, about 30 miles northwest from Manhattan, things are still not back to normal. The police still have barricades around fallen trees, low hanging wires, and a few blacked out traffic lights.

   Nevertheless, the wintry fluke on Halloween did not deter about 100 kids from knocking on my door for candy.  They came in their colorful costumes between 4 and 8:30 p.m.; sometimes in groups of seven or eight. I had thought the 75 candy bars I had stacked by my front door would be more than enough.

  By 7 p.m., I ran out of sweets. I resorted to my backup supply of yellow pencils. By then, I saw the writing on the wall. The children’s Halloween spirit snapped the cold spell like witchcraft.  Many youngsters came to my porch laughing, prancing, and screaming “Trick or Treat.” Some of them exclaimed “Look what I got!” when I handed them candy. Almost all of them said “Thank you.”

  The evening’s darkness and frigidity did not stop children from swarming my street. My neighborhood teemed with colorfully attired little ones going from house to house. Their parents cheerfully accompanied them. Between all the visitors, and the steady stop-and-go of cars and minivans, you’d think there was a Halloween ball nearby.

  I think there’s a greater lesson in the heartwarming turnout I encountered on this snowy Oct. 31. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Determination wins out over setbacks. That fact, which youngsters exemplified on Halloween, applies to public relations. Namely, PR people who let an unforeseen blast of winter be their fall are selling themselves a snow job.