As is usual Roger and I started to converse about our usual wanderings as Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson. I was excited about this year as it fell on the eve of a day that I didn’t have to work and because I was ill the previous year.

Roger however, was bored with the usual Ashland wanderings and wanted to try something new. The weather outlook called for rain and he wanted to spend the evening in Grants Pass watching the “Rocky Horror Picture Show”. He even went so far as to buy tickets for the show for Claudia and me.

When he arrived to give me the tickets I explained that Claudia had to work and couldn’t go. I also questioned his motives and the other possibilities for the evening. After several minutes of weighing the various pros and cons of the various agendas we could do, we settled on what would prove to be the most outstanding Halloween we would attend together.

We started with a dinner at McKee Bridge with Roger’s Father and Claudia in tow. It was a delightful meal followed by a costume contest in which we won by default of being the only costumed diners of the moment. Slightly ashamed of our victory we politely took the prizes offered and head back to Medford.

After dropping off our partners of the evening we proceeded to my brother’s house to do a surprise showing. We were warmly greeted and admired all the creativity of the children’s costumes. After a round of pictures we were finally on the way to Ashland.

There was nothing but good omens as we arrived. We found a parking place with slightest of effort and the night air even in the park was remarkably comfortable. As we approached the plaza we walked into history.

I’ll let Roger's words describe the evening……

“At the Ashland Plaza, what lay before us was truly amazing. The temperature was perfect. There was a strong wind, but it wasn't cold at all, unlike so many years in the past. The predicted rain seemed to have fizzled, as we could see stars overhead. And the people, oh the vast multitudes of hundreds and hundreds of people, in costume, on the triangular island in front of the plaza, in the street on either side, and extending uphill from the plaza halfway through town. I did a quick estimation based on twenty years of attendance at Ashland Halloween and told Ken that the celebration was about an hour and a half ahead of schedule, as the crowd usually peaked to this level about 11:30pm. 

We were awestruck at the sight, and it seemed we could stand anywhere and be witness to any number of great costumes travelling by us. Some needed some thinking at first, like the man with the huge horseshoe magnet around his shoulders, with what from a distance looked like yellow pears stuck to it. It was only when I got closer I could see they were imitation baby chicks... Chick Magnet. Another had made a transparent umbrella into a darned good replica of a jellyfish, which he walked with, the strong wind making a great visual with the blowing plastic tendrils moving around. In fact, anyone with some extendable wings, or a good cape was in exactly the right place at the right time. The wind really made these costumes shine. The three flags suspended way above the plaza were whipping in the gale, and the trees were shedding their leaves on everyone. And even when the clouds came, it seemed the force of the wind kept the rain aloft!

 There was plenty of skin to be seen, as always, as several "Bavarian girls", as Ken called them, roamed the streets, as well as the perennial "high school girl" with the short-short plaid skirt and white tops. Not to mention, flappers, gangster molls, pirates, wonder women, lingerie models, and even a couple of young ladies wearing nothing above their waists but a couple strips of electrical tape on their nipples! Not to mention the usual cross dressers. What happens at Ashland Halloween, stays at Ashland Halloween.

 From the time we entered the plaza, we were met with some sign of inebriation, as the first of many slurred greetings came our way. So many people recognized us with a smile, a "Hey, I know who you are!", handshakes, and many requests for our photographs, we felt like celebrities. The older people in attendance seemed especially impressed with the authenticity of our costumes. Apart from a "Mario and Luigi", we didn't see many team efforts this year. And we saw not one other Sherlock Holmes this year! I figured the most prevalent costume this year was Heath Ledger's The Joker from The Dark Knight. Ken figures it was the Bavarian Barmaid. The costume that got the most use was a discarded robot costume at the head of Lithia Park, consisting of a couple lengths of silver dryer ducts, and a silver-painted cardboard box. That night we saw an arm picked up by one late arrival, and then the rest by another later on, to make impromptu free costumes of sorts.

 It was pretty cool being greeted by such overwhelming friendliness. Ken noted it too. I attribute both the attendance and the mood of the crowd to the fact that people weren't freezing their asses off this time. And that it fell on a Friday this year, so no one had to be at work the next day. Of course, though, we did see a few people arrested for one thing or another by the police presence, which was concentrated in a couple large groups at each end of the plaza. And we witnessed a fight that broke out between two participants right in front of us. A ring of people were gathered around the to combatants on the street right next to the curb, and by the time Watson had managed to flag a policeman, it was over, with one brawler walking off one way, and the other getting up a few seconds later, blood streaming down the side of his head, walking the other direction, towards the park. Half a dozen officers took off the same direction to try to grab that guy. Wouldn't be hard to pick him out! 

We wandered around from place to place for hours, meeting up with Ken's daughter Beth, who was amazed at the spectacle she had never seen before, and getting me getting photographs of more and more willing subjects, until my battery started running out of power. I switched to the Sony NightShot mode (infrared) as I didn't have enough juice to power the flash any longer. I managed to squeeze out shot after shot, between the camera shutting itself down for lack of power. And more people recognized us, yelling out our character names, and wanted our photo, or to pose with us! One especially lovely young lady is a pianist/songwriter/singer who lives in Ashland and has her own website: www.christineanderson.net She texted her e-mail address to my phone so I could send her the photos I took of her, one posed with a very happy Doctor Watson. She seems very nice, and said she would give us passes to one of her upcoming shows!

We just didn't know when all of this was going to end. We didn't want to leave until the crowd started breaking up, which it usually does around midnight. But at 12:30, and 1am, it still looked about the same! Finally, we thought we saw a slight lessening about 1:30am, and we decided our backs and Ken's leg had had enough, and we reluctantly headed to the car, declaring the night a complete success, not only with one of the best Ashland Halloweens ever, but also spanning much of the valley, with McKee Bridge, and in visiting the Mitchell brothers, which Ken had never done on Halloween before. As I drove back down past the plaza, we looked, and, as if on cue, the crowds were dispersing right there and then. The time was 1:35am. Our timing was perfect. As we headed south past the droves heading back towards Southern Oregon University, Ashland Halloween 2008 came to a fitting end, with the light rain just starting to fall.”

Now that would seem to be the end of the story wouldn’t? A perfect Halloween outing that almost wasn’t. But there was still more to come as the following Monday we found ourselves on the front page of the Ashland Daily tidings. You can read the article and see the image here - http://www.dailytidings.com/2008/1103/stories/1103_halloween_folo.php .

Truly and outstanding end to our adventure.