The Times-Journal

The blue and gold month of October draws near its last day, which ends in a blaze of orange and black, of elves and sprites, of the rustle of leaves and the laughter of children scurrying along darkened streets.

Members of the Selma Charity League brought special Halloween joy to clients of the Cahaba Region Mental Health with an old-fashioned, full-costume party in the DeBray Building at the Cahaba Center.

Committee members Julia Anne Minter, Michelle Scheer, Callen Free, Rim Hmmad, Lauren Henry and Stacy Psomiadis were costumed to represent the lurking spirits that flit about on Hallowe’en night: a gauze swathed mummy, witches, ghosts, ghoulies and

a dance-hall gal.

The room was in semi-darkness, lighted only by grinning jack-o-lanterns and burning candles. And it was filled with row after row of Cahaba clients, so elaborately costumed and made-up that identity was impossible.

Gary Ledbetter, a Montgomery magician, entertained the filled room with magic tricks and humorous chatter. And to end the party, refreshments suitable to the occasion were served by the League members, assisted by Barbara McCord and Verlette Ferguson, coordinators of Selma Day Training Center.

Now don’t forget Monday night because:

“Tonight is the night when dead leaves fly

Like witches on switches across the sky,

When elf and sprite flit through the night

On a moony sheen.

Tonight is the night when pumpkins stare

Through sheaves and leaves everywhere,

When ghoul and ghost and goblin host

Dance round their queen.

It’s Hallowe’en.”

Elf and sprite will flit through the night,

As the world turns black and gold on Hallowe’en.”