My friend Darcie from Such The Spot told me about a fun neighborhood game a few months ago. After our conversation I googled it and learned that apparently it’s all over the country, but our little Kentucky town seems to be behind the times (shocking, I know!) So we decided to jump-start the tradition locally, and thus the Bardstown Boo began.
Now if I was a really good blogger like Darcie, this is where I’d show you a picture of the baskets we assembled. But since I’m just me, this is where I will tell you what was in the baskets that I forgot to take a picture of.
The girls and I hit the dollar store for ours, figuring that we needed to do several baskets to ensure the game took off. We bought black wire spider baskets and filled them with little battery-powered pumpkin lanterns, Halloween paper plates and cups, a little resin home decor piece, Halloween pencils and erasers, candles, I made applique hand towels, and of course the obligatory candy corn. I think that’s about it.
Then we cut out large ghosts and put “We’ve been BOO’d” on them, and included this poem:
You’ve Been BOO’d!
A friendly ghost has come your way
To wish for you a wonderful day.
He left a small gift and something sweet
Never heard him come cause he’s light on his feet.
You must be light on your feet too,
Cause this is what you have to do:
Choose two neighbors, and choose them well.
Now this is a secret, you mustn’t tell.
Copy this poem, and the sign twice,
If you do it by hand, make sure it looks nice.
Take a couple of gift bags down from the shelf,
Or a plain paper bag, you can design yourself.
Fill them with sweets, and a gift of your choice.
Leave em’ on your friends porch,without any noise.
Hang this sign on your door, for all ghosts to see.
They’ll know you’ve been “BOO-D”, and will leave you be.
This is only a game, to have a little fun,
Let’s see how far it goes, before the month’s done.
Now you have 24 hrs. to visit your friends.
Please don’t be the cause of our games early end.
Happy Haunting!
The idea is to do this at night and run, which would be fun…but totally unworkable for 1, 3, and 5 year olds. We opted instead to leave the baskets leisurely during the day, while everyone was at work. The girls were so excited! For two days we had to drive through the neighborhood at least twice a day, looking to see if the ghosts were out. And just when Annie was getting worried…ghosts began popping up everywhere! Yey! It wasn’t long before we got Boo’d ourselves (much to their delight), and then soon followed Boo #2! Not sure why we got a second, really, but we hung that ghost up too and now our front door looks like this:
At the second boo we decided to pass it on to another neighborhood or two, so we went to some people who live on the road near our house which isn’t part of any subdivision, and we went over to my parents’ neighborhood as well. The kids were delighted to suprise Pappap and Grama, who of course had no clue who Boo’d them. Even after Grama called to tell Annie that she got Boo’d and Annie said, “I know! I wonder who did that?” LOL Gosh, we sure fooled them!
But I’m pleased to report that it caught on in both places, and ghosts are popping up all over our end of town! If I had unlimited resources I’d be popping a basket or two into every neighborhood in town, but maybe this will get the word out, at least, and a few others will take the initiative next year. All because of Darcie, a thousand miles away. Thank you my friend, for the fun you brought into our lives. The girls (and I!) have had a blast with this!
Disney rocks my world!, My beautiful daughters | Heather November 6, 2008 | 
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