Politics and Halloween

Written By Amanda Barusch

Ten-year-old Elizabeth Roess scored a victory for Halloween this year when she brought trick-or-treating back to Oil City, Pennsylvania. That was the teaser for Robert Siegel's story on National Public Radio the day before Halloween. Worn out by political coverage, my attention was piqued.

Years ago, an 11-year-old girl in Oil City was kidnapped and murdered around Halloween. Inspired by hatred and fear (as lawmakers sometimes are) the city council passed an ordinance restricting trick-or-treating to the daylight hours of 2 and 4 PM. Halloween wasn't much fun in Elizabeth's hometown.

This year she took matters into her own hands and invited the city council to vote for hope rather than fear. Elizabeth collected signatures on a petition to allow night-time trick-or-treating and she wrote an essay outlining her rationale. I bet she was adorable when she presented the petition and read her essay at the City Council meeting. At any rate, she was successful. Today Elizabeth addressed the nation on NPR.

Her voice quivered, and with utmost delicacy Robert asked what lessons she had learned about politics from her experience. Her response: "Don't ever go alone and wear bright clothes."There's a young woman who understands politics!

Here's a link to the NPR story: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96344552

Amanda Barusch

Amanda Barusch has worked as a janitor, exotic dancer, editor, and college professor. She lives in the American West, where she spends as much time as possible on dirt paths. She has an abiding disdain for boundaries and adores ambiguity. Amanda has published eight books of non-fiction, a few poems, and a growing number of short stories. Aging Angry is her first work of creative non-fiction. She uses magical realism to explore deep truths of the human experience in this rapidly changing world.

Previous

Books are Never Done
Next

I Pledge Allegiance