(Thanks to Barbara Pepper Stevens)
Way back before the Kingsburg District Hospital was built, that whole block was a eucalyptus forest with one old multi storied Victorian house right in the middle of the forest. All of we kids KNEW it was haunted and were terrified to venture into that forest. I was one of the few girls that lived in the neighborhood and I was always trying to “fit in” to the group of boys. One Halloween, they gave me the impression if I were to trick-or-treat that house, I ‘might’ finally be accepted into the neighborhood gang. (That was before the term “gang” had negative connotations!) Well, that dare was all I needed and even though it was already dark, and I was terrified, I marched up, alone, and knocked on the door. A really nice elderly lady answered her door and I excitedly exclaimed, “Trick-or Treat!” The lady smiled and explained she usually didn’t get any trick-or-treaters and she was sorry but she didn’t have any treats for me. However, she said, she had just baked and iced a chocolate cake and if I would like, she would invite me in for a slice and a cup of milk. We had a delightful conversation and I thanked her and left. The boys were waiting out on the sidewalk and beginning to get worried about me. I just floated by them so smugly! Probably my first encounter and lesson that what boys say, they don’t always follow through on; I never became part of their “gang.” ca. 1955
