Don’t let spooky spoilsport ruin the fun

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: I love to see Halloween trick-or-treaters in their costumes. I also dress up every year to greet the kids who come to my door. I’m a 34-year-old woman with no kids of my own.

Our whole yard is lit up in orange lights and my husband and I had a great time hanging ghosts and goblins from the tree branches two weeks ago.

However, our neighbour hates it. Last year we bought a scary sound show to go with the yard decorations and he went nuts. He came running out last week when I tried out my spooky soundtrack. He yelled that it sounded like a “pagan circus” at our place.

Today he growled at me there would be “stupid kids” running across his yard again and said he was going to call the police on us this year.

My husband says it isn’t worth it to be enemies with the next-door neighbour over a bunch of decorations and scary noises, but I will never back off. It’s way more than decorating to me. I love giving special displays and treats to the much-deserving kids in this neighbourhood — not a rich area by any means.

What can I do about this nasty neighbour?

— Halloween Lady, Winnipeg

Dear Halloween Lady: If you look up noise complaint bylaws on the city’s website, you’ll see that you’re completely within your rights to broadcast your spooky sounds at a reasonable volume until 9 p.m. (You might want to print a copy of the bylaw for your neighbour.)

Winnipeg police actually encourage neighbours to exercise a degree of tolerance for noise (especially on a holiday), so this Halloween humbug’s appeals to the cops won’t go anywhere. Just wrap up the outdoor festivities by 9 p.m. and don’t go out of your way to needle this neighbour.

Dear Miss Lonelyhearts: Nine years ago my husband proposed at Christmas, and we got married the next Halloween in costumes. It was a small wedding in our town, and our 25 guests all came in costumes, too.

We’re still crazy and fun-loving, and we’ve had a great marriage so far. I’m thinking we should do a wedding re-enactment for our 10th anniversary next Halloween. We would invite anybody in town who wants to come.

We know everybody in our small town and they all say they wish they’d been at our wedding.

Do you think we’d be going too far and perhaps some people would not approve, or would they all love it?

— Tempted, southeastern Manitoba

Dear Tempted: This could be lots of fun — but expand the idea a little. The marriage is proving to be a happy one, and the vows re-enactment would be fun, so why not put out invites in your town for your 10th anniversary wedding “costume social” on Oct. 31, or close to it.

You could sell tickets cheaply to get a real handle on what attendance will be and to cover some costs. If you sell out and you’re in the black for the event, you could donate profits to a local charity.

Consider a brief wedding-vow renewal ceremony early in the evening, for close family and friends who want to attend, and then let your anniversary Halloween social get rocking for everyone. It could be a lot of fun for the whole town.

Please send your questions and comments to lovecoach@hotmail.com or Miss Lonelyhearts c/o the Winnipeg Free Press, 1355 Mountain Ave., Winnipeg, MB, R2X 3B6.

Maureen Scurfield
Advice columnist

Maureen Scurfield writes the Miss Lonelyhearts advice column.

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