This afternoon, Thursday, Oct. 24, at 2, is the Edgecomb Historical Society's October meeting. Once more we'll gather at 94 Cross Point Road, home of Sue Carlson and Ros Strong, to accommodate Sue's recovery.

Says Sue, “I'm making great progress, but still hopping on one foot and we look forward to seeing you all. We'll fine tune the November meeting details which will be our postponed annual meeting, talk about archives and review Jo's list of interesting items. Bring your own agenda items and new ideas!”

But be on the qui vive, because the Thursday, Nov. 21 meeting is going to bring the Cochran Quilt to Edgecomb for one evening at the Edgecomb Congregational Church. Thanks to the generosity of the Newcastle Historical Society.

Dig out your genealogies and come on down. I'll do a proper press release when we've got the time settled. This meeting will also serve as EHS's annual meeting. Our dues are $5, $10 for a family. Such a deal.

Alert to Edgecomb artists. If you are looking for a gallery space, consider this: Skidompha Library has a small gallery, the Carey Gallery, and welcomes artists to hang their work for one month.

Should you sell something, you keep all the income. Just call Skidompha and ask for their gallery policy, which includes a way to apply for display.

October 24 is also United Nations Day. That should inspire some exotic Halloween costumes! Reminiscing with Joyce Tuttle, nee Pinkham, recently, about the Halloween parties my family used to throw for the neighbor children; they were pretty awesome.

I remember a Pirate Party, where we used old beer bottles for cider, and played a really spooky game of identifying the organs of a corpse under a blanket: brains were Jello, eyes were grapes, liver was an old leather glove, guts were noodles. And then we all went out on a treasure hunt, which I believe, after roaming the nearby woods trying to figure out an ancient map (made the week before by pouring coffee over it and letting it dry and curl up), fetched us up in the garden, where the chest was in the hole where all the squash vines had been pulled.

Another year it was an Indian Party, with a campfire in a sandpit (long since closed over), and the game was Hounds and Hares. The Hares hid whatever it was, leaving clues for the Hounds, the more misleading the better. Far better than lonely, dangerous trick or treating on these dark country roads.

More fun: join the annual Halloween Parade! Meet on the Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library lawn at 4 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 31. From Barb House, “We plan to walk the road between the library and the Opera House and gather delicious treats along the way from our generous local businesses. At the end this year, we are offering a creative photo op! For more information, contact Barb or Mary at the Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library at 207-633-3112.”

Preparing for ghosties and ghoulies at 234 River Road, 207-633-2978, and jocam@tidewater.net.