A few years ago, my family heard of Rivendell and specifically the trick or treating there. Trick or treating in Rivendell is a Halloween tradition for us now. I hate to give away secrets like this but, everyone, based on the crowds, seems to already know about this. No spoilers I suppose. Many communities have houses with thousands of dollars in lights for Christmas, Rivendell though is known for the candy and door to door experience of old. Let’s talk about Trick or Treating in Rivendell.
My first experience was in 2020. This matters and I’ll explain why. We all think of saying “Trick or Treat” and we expect the treat and forget about the trick. Never in my life, that I remember, have I ran into anyone who chose the “Trick” part of this traditional question. Halloween of 2020 was in the middle of the COVID 19 pandemic and one home I remember offered a trick instead of a treat. There was a boiling cauldron in the yard with a sign for children to get candy. Arriving at the cauldron, you found there was a smaller sign that said you had been tricked. There was no candy in the dish, just the sign. Further, the family that lived there weren’t participating because they all had COVID. This still impresses me. For once, a trick instead of a treat. Attention to the age old question “trick or treat” is observed in Rivendell.
The scenery is picturesque in this community. Being a child in the late 80s and early 90s, I remember well Halloween and door to door trick or treating. Up and down the streets you would see parades of children in costumes of all sorts. Many had the same store bought costumes on as others. My mother is a seamstress and we were lucky enough to have unique hand made costumes. Other children at this time had this privilege as well because sewing was still somewhat commonplace. Tractors and trucks would pull hail bale covered trailers full of kids form one house to another. Traffic would line the streets and the lights from porches and decorations casts color tints and odd shadows over everything. Entire communities would expect and welcome the crowds of supermen, ninja turtles, Gi joes, witches, etc. Trick or treating in Rivendell will pick you up and set you right back into the late 80s early 90s.
Rivendell, for those who don’t know, is a high end community in Anderson, SC off of Highway 81. Most of the folks who live there are upper class and the homes reflect this. Not that any of that matters, but it adds a unique element to the story. In Belton, where I grew up, Brown Avenue was the Rivendell of the day. Seeing the elaborate homes in Rivendell decorated with 10’ tall skeletons, graveyards, ghost children in swings, and projected ghosts on the walls reminds us that even if you’re a doctor, you can still enjoy life and our country’s holiday traditions. Bobby “Boris” Pickett’s anthem “The Monster Mash” rang through the neighborhood as bon fires burned beside residents with buckets of candy. The laughter and joy of children parading the streets is a very welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated event on October 31st each year in Rivendell.
We will attend these festivities as long as our children are trick or treating. Of course, that might be grandchildren for me before too long.