Trick-or-Treat Tradition Going Strong In The Valley
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Hill Country Living
By Coulter Fussell
There are several big Water Valley events all of us townsfolk look forward to each year – the Watermelon Carnival, of course, along with the Christmas Parade, the Art Crawl and, more recently, the Casey Jones Music Fest. I would be remiss not to mention my personal favorite, the Rotary Chili Cook-off. All of these events take months of planning by various organizations with their presidents and treasurers, committees, subcommittees, volunteers, fundraising drives, lists, apps, text threads and so on. But one of our biggest, most joyful and consistently successful town events depends on nothing except the spontaneous kindness of neighbors: Water Valley Halloween!
I think this town needs to give a collective round of applause for what the residents of Panola, Leland and Dupuy Streets do every year for Water Valley and Yalobusha kids. It is an absolute joy to watch it all go down over there. For hours, hordes of sub-four-foot-tall princesses, zombies, Scream-mask dudes and Spidermen roam up and down the three streets like it’s a movie from the 1980s. It’s just so cute!
Since my kids are older and off roaming around somewhere totally unaccounted for, my Halloween routine is to walk from my house on Wood Street over to Panola, where I give out candy for a little while with Megan Patton at the Creekmore House. Having given out Halloween candy on either Dupuy or Panola since 2004, I can say that this year’s batch of trick-or-treaters was some of the most mannerly of all time! The “thank yous” and “Happy Halloweens” abounded among our town’s kids, from the toddlers to the teenagers. Seeing all the smiling and smitten young parents watching their costumed babies skip up the sidewalks swinging their plastic pumpkin buckets was endearing. It was refreshing to witness all that in a time when young people generally don’t always get the benefit of the doubt around such things. Young love, respect and happiness in 2025 — our small town’s still got it!
Megan’s house is my only real stop before heading to the unofficial final Halloween destination: Kathryn York’s house, a.k.a. Water Valley’s Halloween Ground Zero. Around 8 p.m., the kitchen in this house turns into a bit of a horror show itself as all the parents decide it’s our turn to overindulge. It’s Halloween — chilled on ice!
Earlier that morning, I gave out candy for the Water Valley Main Street Association at Davidson Elementary’s Trunk-or-Treat event. I showed up to the parking lot with one salad bowl of candy and a single chair to sit in. Meanwhile, the Water Valley Police Department showed up not only in full uniform but with a live police dog and a whole entire bloody crime scene (which appeared to be a staged murder/kidnapping situation) displayed in the trunk of their cop car. It was impressive, and someone needs to grab them to be on a Christmas Parade float committee. The WVPD has an officer with a hidden talent in set design somewhere on their force.
Lastly, book the babysitter! The next Water Valley Wine Down event, sponsored by the Water Valley Main Street Association, is scheduled for Thursday, November 13. You can register online or show up to the Pocket Park at 5:30 that day. Let’s keep this town’s good times rolling! Join us!
