BY META MISENER
AND SCOTT SPARKS
VN SPECIAL WRITERs
The green is fading away, and the orange is bursting out everywhere.
Sweet smells of homemade donuts and pies fill the air.
And there’s nothing quite like biting into a crisp apple and having access to all the candy you could ever need.
It is time for fall and all the wonderful traditions that come with it, such as Halloween, hayrides and cider mills.
Many Detroit Mercy students have their own Halloween traditions.
Sydney Sehihl, a sophomore in the nursing program, spends much of her Halloween with family.
They visit Cedar Point and haunted houses such as Erebus in Pontiac, which she highly recommends.
“It is very scary,” she said. “They can touch you!”
Erebus is a four-story attraction, not recommended for the weak or those younger than 13 years old.
“I go to Cedar Point with my mom,” noted Sehihl. “They have different scare zones for everyone.”
Cedar Point HalloWeekends offer themed events for the whole family, from small children to the thrill takers.
Trisha McCune, a sophomore in the nursing program, likes to take it easy on Halloween.
“Every year we make sloppy joes,” said McCune, “and get ready to pass out candy to trick or treaters.”
For Paul Rogers, a senior in the cyber-security program, the holiday is less about family and more about his neighborhood, which has a fun way to get into the spooky mood.
Rogers said three neighbors build a huge haunted house that spreads through three backyards just for local trick-or-treaters.
Nursing sophomore Shaina Mohan’s Halloween memories are not joyful.
“I remember a house once when I was trick or treating (that) was so scary I ran away,” she said. “I was 6 years old.”
Cider mills are popular this time of year.
Harper Young-Whitman, a junior in the nursing program, likes going to mills and pumpkin patches.
“Every year we make pumpkin seeds,” said Whitman.
Taylor Jirjis, also a junior in the nursing program, goes every year to a popular fall spot.
“Blake’s is the best,” said Jarjis. “I go for the bonfires and hayrides.”
Blake’s in Armada offers many events throughout fall, such as a zombie paint-ball hayride and a three-story haunted barn.
Aubree Snow, a junior in the nursing program, also enjoys a great cider mill.
Snow recommends Johnson’s Giant Pumpkins, a large patch in Saginaw with catapult demos, horse rides, a mini-train ride and more.
For most kids, the favorite part about Halloween is getting all that candy.
But not for Eric Macrow. He had a unique tradition.
“All of my family and friends would come over to my house, and it would be an all-day type of festivity,” said Macrow. “It’s always been a special day for my family. Even when I moved on to college, my parents still hosted a party for family and friends. I wish I could go home for that.”
What is Halloween like in other countries?
“Halloween isn’t much different from the United States to Canada. We basically do the same stuff,” said Taylor Cloutier. “We get all dressed up and try find the best costumes and spend time with our families eating goodies.”
Halloween even has a lot of games to offer.
Some find family is the best cure during the holidays.
“My family and I would go buy pumpkins, and use power tools to carve them,” said Cloutier. “Whoever carves the best pumpkin gets to choose what we are having for dinner on Halloween.”
It’s always fun to have some family rivalries.
“It really creates a great bonding experience for my siblings and me, as we’re always busy with our own stuff everyday,” said Cloutier.
Cool costumes are a big part of Halloween, too.
College can be a very cool place for Halloween as friends and couples like to dress up together and have a party.
“I’ve seen some really cool costumes, some bad costumes and some inappropriate costumes” said Spencer Lendzion.
What’s so cool about them?
“It’s the time and effort people put into them,” he said. “People get ready for this day a couple months ahead of time. It’s insane. I do see some of the same costumes but the best ones you only see once. People really just want to out-think each other and just want to be known to have the best costume.”
Like many others, what Jamesen McHale wanted from Halloween as a kid was candy.
“Man, all I looked forward too was eating my candy for the next week straight,” said McHale. “My neighbors would always buy the huge foot-long Hershey Chocolate bars. Those were my favorites. I would have to hide it from my dad because he would try and eat it.”
