Trick or Treat! Year 2021 Annual Halloween Special!

Happy Halloween! We're featuring our first-ever Halloween Special, focusing as always on the history and culture of the Town of Greenwich, Connecticut USA! From Host Historian Jeffrey Bingham Mead:Located next to the Second Congregational Church on East Putnam Avenue, the New Burial Grounds Association Cemetery was founded in July, 1833 as an independent burial ground association. Easily accessible to visitors, a stroll among its numerous gravestones will take you back in time and history -and I'll share some details with you.Pranksters were out and about in 1905, greasing trolley tracks at Chickahominy while another group came close to setting a dump-cart on a runaway journey down Greenwich Avenue.Not everyone was on-board with the town's Halloween mischief-makers. I'll share with you a letter penned and published in 1931 lamenting what was called Halloween rowdyism that year. Public Halloween celebrations were well-attended and held at various locations. You'll hear about public celebrations held at the YMCA and other locations -including the Methodist Episcopal Church.In the early 20th century what was then the Holley Inn -and today the Bush Holley House National Historic Site in Cos Cob, headquarters of the Greenwich Historical Society -was transformed one Halloween night into a haven for freaks, spirits, demons and poltergeists.Carl White -retired local history librarian at the Greenwich Library- authored a fascinating piece in 2015 you can find on the library's blog site titled 'Ghost Stories of Greenwich.' I'll share that with you.Inscribed on gravestones, epitaphs are phrases, poems or other texts honoring the deceased. They are found throughout Greenwich's cemeteries,  and I'll read a sampling of those for you.We'll feature two public service announcements. One for Halloween safety, and the other for Election Day! Scary thoughts indeed! We'll also feature news of events at the Greenwich Historical Society.Come savor the flavors and aromas of coffee at Coffee For Good, located in the 1858 Solomon Mead House on the campus of Second Congregational Church. My friends, don't let the vampire's scare you away! I'll have all this and more as our adventure into Greenwich, Connecticut's Halloween bygone times unfolds. This special podcast was made possible by Peter F. Alexander of Site Design Associates; the Long Island Sound Institute (LISI); the Ambassador Museum United States of America, and Kevin M.J. O'Connor of the Jeffrey Matthews Financial Group. Thank you!