Neighbor to Neighbor: Varied costumed army saves 105th Pct. from evil ghouls
By Barbara Morris
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| TimesLedger Newspapers |
The 105th Precinct was shrouded in heavy mist Oct. 31. Something seemed different. Something seemed wrong. As we approached, Rose Funderburk and I suspected the precinct was about to be attacked or had already been attacked.
There were bloodied bodies hidden in the bushes and a couple of horses collapsed on their knees on the lawn. It was a frightening sight so much so that we were tempted to run back to the car and go for help. Since Rose’s husband, Major, and son, Keith, had gone ahead of us, however, we felt we should first go in and find out if they were all right and, possibly, already trying to give aid inside.
As we went through the front doors, something that felt like strong spiderwebs seemed to cover our faces and were difficult to pull away. Out of the silence we first noticed as we went in a variety of mournful cries. Then we saw her: a wicked-looking woman in a long, black dress, standing over a huge black pot over a big fire.
She was chanting back and forth as she stirred something in the pot around and around, half-laughing and half-chanting funny words. We had to slink by her and some weird-looking fellow who had a large python draped around his shoulders, hoping they would not notice us as we went by.
The usually neat muster room was an absolute mess. There were bodies in various stages of decomposition, but we saw Major and Keith alive and well — although Keith kept making some kind of a noise that was too hard to describe.
Suddenly, Youth Officer Moore and Community Affairs Detective Cooper stuck their heads in and assured us everything was going to be better shortly because reinforcements were on the way. Sure enough, Helen Powell came in, followed by Keira Betty, Barbara Codi, Alexis Hoover, Nicolette Francis and Roenica Cummings.
They told us they had seen a whole parade on the way, so we had better prepare for a lot more helpers. Luckily, the Funderburks had planned ahead to provide a lot of food — enough, in fact, to feed an army. We hurried to set it out to be ready when the reinforcements arrived.
It was not long until they started to come in, but they certainly were not the army we expected. There were fairies, knights in armor, ghosts, goblins, princesses, bugs, Michael Jackson and Bryon Block, who came for a while, as well as three wonderful, patient pups. What a crew! We were not sure if they came to help or hurt us, so we decided to placate them with something sweet.
There were 400 big, packages of candy, an equal number of portions of juice and two huge sheet cakes decorated with pumpkins and yummy icing. All of it was carved up and gobbled down. It was all gone before we knew it and so were all those who took part in the helpful army.
Pretty soon a couple more would-be helpers came in. We were sad we had given out all the treats the Funderburks had brought. Luckily, as we were waiting for the reinforcements to come, one beautiful lady came in with two equally beautiful young ladies, each of whom brought some of their candy they wanted to share. Thanks to them, the candy they left with us went to those last two visitors so they, too, went away happy.
It was a busy, happy Halloween in the 105th Precinct, and we hope it was likewise everywhere. We want to thank all those who helped save us and who were so generous in providing the safe space and extraordinary decorating job. We were happy the Halloween mist finally blew away and we could see all of our NYPD personnel were just “cooling it” until they could reclaim the precinct. They are spectacular sports.
Now that we are already into November, Thanksgiving will soon be with us. We hope everyone will have a safe and happy holiday. Please shop safely. Do not leave your vehicle engine running when you leave your car. Lock it and do not leave packages, etc., visible. Do not leave pocketbooks unattended in shopping carts and, if you buy large, expensive items, turn the cartons inside out before recycling them.
Think and stay safe. There will be a 105th Precinct Community Council meeting Nov. 18.
There were bloodied bodies hidden in the bushes and a couple of horses collapsed on their knees on the lawn. It was a frightening sight so much so that we were tempted to run back to the car and go for help. Since Rose’s husband, Major, and son, Keith, had gone ahead of us, however, we felt we should first go in and find out if they were all right and, possibly, already trying to give aid inside.
As we went through the front doors, something that felt like strong spiderwebs seemed to cover our faces and were difficult to pull away. Out of the silence we first noticed as we went in a variety of mournful cries. Then we saw her: a wicked-looking woman in a long, black dress, standing over a huge black pot over a big fire.
She was chanting back and forth as she stirred something in the pot around and around, half-laughing and half-chanting funny words. We had to slink by her and some weird-looking fellow who had a large python draped around his shoulders, hoping they would not notice us as we went by.
The usually neat muster room was an absolute mess. There were bodies in various stages of decomposition, but we saw Major and Keith alive and well — although Keith kept making some kind of a noise that was too hard to describe.
Suddenly, Youth Officer Moore and Community Affairs Detective Cooper stuck their heads in and assured us everything was going to be better shortly because reinforcements were on the way. Sure enough, Helen Powell came in, followed by Keira Betty, Barbara Codi, Alexis Hoover, Nicolette Francis and Roenica Cummings.
They told us they had seen a whole parade on the way, so we had better prepare for a lot more helpers. Luckily, the Funderburks had planned ahead to provide a lot of food — enough, in fact, to feed an army. We hurried to set it out to be ready when the reinforcements arrived.
It was not long until they started to come in, but they certainly were not the army we expected. There were fairies, knights in armor, ghosts, goblins, princesses, bugs, Michael Jackson and Bryon Block, who came for a while, as well as three wonderful, patient pups. What a crew! We were not sure if they came to help or hurt us, so we decided to placate them with something sweet.
There were 400 big, packages of candy, an equal number of portions of juice and two huge sheet cakes decorated with pumpkins and yummy icing. All of it was carved up and gobbled down. It was all gone before we knew it and so were all those who took part in the helpful army.
Pretty soon a couple more would-be helpers came in. We were sad we had given out all the treats the Funderburks had brought. Luckily, as we were waiting for the reinforcements to come, one beautiful lady came in with two equally beautiful young ladies, each of whom brought some of their candy they wanted to share. Thanks to them, the candy they left with us went to those last two visitors so they, too, went away happy.
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Now that we are already into November, Thanksgiving will soon be with us. We hope everyone will have a safe and happy holiday. Please shop safely. Do not leave your vehicle engine running when you leave your car. Lock it and do not leave packages, etc., visible. Do not leave pocketbooks unattended in shopping carts and, if you buy large, expensive items, turn the cartons inside out before recycling them.
Think and stay safe. There will be a 105th Precinct Community Council meeting Nov. 18.
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