Halloween Haunted Yard 2014-One last time

I began scaring trick or treators who walked up my front lanai in 1998 when my first child Leilani was 7, Kailana was 4 and Luke was just a year and a half old. It began with a CD of sound effects I bought at the newly opened Costco. One of the discs contained over a hundred scary sounds. And so on that Halloween in 1998 as a small child walked up my walk I put this disc in a boombox, turned up the volume to full and pressed the play button emitting a roar of vicious dogs howling like they were about to rip out your throat.  I will always remember a cute little girl dressed as a princess looking up in horror as she got to the door and the dogs howled, she turned dropped her wand with a star on top and ran screaming down the street, her mom also near tears chasing after her. Her father with a stern look in his eye walked up the steps of my front lanai. I prepped myself expecting at best a tongue lashing and probably a punch out session.

"Good one dude!" said the the now smiling dad who laughed and then turned and ran down the Street to console his wife and princess.

Good times.

Each year after that until just last Friday, I would pick up a few new scary Halloween items to add to the now, 16 years later,  massive collection. Lights, sounds, artificially fog, giant spider webs and all other form of Chinese built electronic crap to increase my ability to use my front yard to frighten small children and their mothers.

Here are some views of the progression of my Haunted Yard over the many years.

Luke at two in 1999 handling the situation properly

2000

Luke and Leilani 2000

Kailana 2000

Luke 2000

2002

2003

2004

Luke 2004

Josh, Luke, Cody & Aidan 2004

2005

Me and my kids 2006

Cody 2006

2008

Nora and her Dad

Grandma Pat Powers 2008

2008

My kids Uncle Curt, an airline pilot, wore this outfit when he taxi'd his Boeing 757 to the gate at Kona Airport on Halloween night 2008!

2009

2009

This year Luke was in Japan for the fall semester, Kai and Lei were in Oregon and I sat at Humpy's having a beer and did not set up the yard.

2011

2013

2014

Two days before each Halloween Eve Luke sits down to carve his annual pumpkin. I have been giving him a pumpkin to carve each year since 2007. Here are photos I have taken in the backyard each time he has finished his Jack O Lantern.

This last year of my celebrating Halloween on the Powers yard I took a few shots of Luke carving his last pumpkin as I watched the sunset.

Here you see us catching the sun setting on Halloween Eve 2014

Things were a bit different this year as Luke, Chief Drone Pilot for Hawaiian Images opted to capture the fun before sunset from the sky above.

But the most fun was had by the kids and teens at ground level as the darkness settled over the Powers Haunted Yard one last time.

Unfortunately, I was so busy behind the curtain pressing my iPad to blast out loud horror noises and jabbing the fog button sending clouds of fog scare to the yard and then hitting the 800 watt seconds strobe light simulating a lighting strike...well I didn't get a chance to get any shots of people being scared to death, though I tell you truly they were and there many of them!

 Here you see Luke and his high school friends watching the fun from the driveway as Luke flies and  records everything from the drone above.

HPA's finest on Halloween eve 2014. Not a costume amongst them...not sure what that means.

The last Powers Haunted Yard was a complete success. Many people came up to me to tell me how much they have enjoyed taking their kids through my yard. Some from when they were barely able to walk until now, like Luke , they were getting ready to head for college.

And this takes me back to the beginning. To the memories of Leilani, Kailana, Luke, Chikako, Cody, Megan, Josh, Yuki, Trevor, Yunoske, Collin, Aidan, Nora, Melody, Katy, Alejandro, Derek, Shin, Mika, Chloe, DJ, Nick, Susan, Roy, Medori, Gigi, Rohn, Mark, LaVerne, Grandma Pat, Grampa Ed Powers, Uncle Curt, Nicho, Mac Sac, Sanoe, Anty Juli and Uncle Bill, and so many others I cannot recall hold these nights. Those memories of being scared on my front yard at the sight of the fog and sound of the dogs howling created a feeling of closeness with their friends on that night each year and are embedded in their hearts.

They will carry with them those memories until one day when they are old and infirm, the thought of them once again being young and alive like those Halloween nights on Melelina Street in Kona Hawaii so very long ago will make them smile.

I am so glad that I have been able to create so many good memories in so very many children the last 16 years.

Good luck kids. Keep scaring those younger that you on one night a year.

ABOOha!

 Brian