100 DAYS OF CENTRAL MASS FEATURES HALLOWEEN
Halloween is a very special holiday in New England and Central Mass. There is no shortage of festivities and events to find this time of the year. Some of the most memorable ones are trips to Salem, MA, Fright Fest at Six Flags and trick or treating in the center of town in Brookfield.
Tons of people young and old dress up as anything and everything you can think of. Tonight just happened to be Halloween and we saw some of the most creative costumes around. Some that stood out were a flying saucer costume, a Juicy Juice juice-box costume, Mario and Luigi from Mario Bros. and a very well done hand-made General Grievous costume from Star Wars.
We kicked off the holiday with some fun at Janine's Frosty in Ware where they were having a charity event. If you donated $3 per child, they would get a goody bag, pumpkin to paint and free ice cream. There was a costume contest that my friend's daughter Alyssa just happened to win with her beautiful homemade Hippie costume. There was a donut on a string eating contest that my son James Jr. tied in winning and some free face painting. We then went trick or treating around the town common and ended the night with a town wide parade. They served pizza and apple cider while they held a costume contest.
Salem, most popular for the witch trials, is a very festive place to visit during Halloween time. The streets are packed with people from all over and there is lots to do. From haunted houses to real ancient graveyards, there's always something interesting and fun to do or see. Six Flags fright fest is a spooky thrill. They have haunted mazes and dressed up ghouls. Always a good time for a thrill seeker.
The weather is usually mild. We've been very lucky the past few years with warm temperatures and no snow! What is Halloween like in your neck of the woods?














Now we have a funny story to share about Wolf Swamp. James and I live on Molasses Hill Road in Brookfield and down the street there is the entrance to Wolf Swamp. Wolf Swamp is a 90 acre wooded site that slopes down to the banks of Trout Brook. It is full of trails and woods, old foundations and tons of streams and brooks. One late afternoon, James had decided to take the boys outside to blow bubble gum on the farmer's porch in the rain. After about 10 minutes of peace and quiet, I decided to look outside to see what they were up to. To my surprise, they were gone. A few minutes later I started getting picture messages on my phone of the boys jumping in puddles in the woods. I called James and he told me they went for a walk in Wolf Swamp. That was fine. I figured I'd use the time to catch up on some recorded tv while it wasn't being hijacked by toddlers watching Noggin.
hiking through the woods and after a few minutes he
The rescue team asked me to sit at the top of the hill where we could see into the swamp and where we could see his light on his phone flashing from the other side of the deep swamp. Somehow they ended up on the other side and could not cross and it was too dark to see which trails would get them back around. The kids were soaked, muddy and tired of walking. We easily spotted their location, but now they had to figure out which side to go in on with the ATVs to rescue the kids and James. No kidding there were at least 4 cop cars, a firetruck and an ambulance out on Molasses Hill and more on the other side of the swamp on Rice Corner Road. Within 45 minutes we had all of them back safely and 

James and I love to kayak, although we don't get to do it much having 4 small children and a business, but someday we'll do it again. Close to our home in Brookfield, MA is the