The Slice: By design, this kind of roll doesn’t come in a wrapper

Let’s turn the clock back to a long-ago Halloween.

“It was 1948 and I was only 6,” wrote Deanna Peterschick Gilmore of Moscow. “I had waited all month to go trick or treating on Oct. 31st. The day finally arrived and I piled into my dad’s black Buick and we drove to Rosalia.”

OK, Rosalia wasn’t all that big, even back then. But for Deanna’s family in even more rural Plaza, it qualified as going to town.

“It was an icy, crisp evening, so as well as wearing my pink piggy mask, I also had on a pink fluffy coat with matching mittens. I ran up and down the streets gathering as much candy as the people of Rosalia could muster, and filled my giant, brown paper sack to the brim with Hershey bars, oranges, apples, giant Tootsie Rolls and pieces of Double Bubble gum.

“As I was heading back to the car, I slipped on the icy grass near the high school and tumbled down the hill. It was coal black that night and my candy flew all over the frozen ground. I dug in the dirt and tried to recover as much as I could find. When we returned to Plaza, I was so excited, I ran to the dining room table and spilled out all my loot.

“There in the middle of all those goodies, was a long piece of dried dog poop. It felt like a giant Tootsie Roll when I picked it up.

“No trick or treats for me that year. How well I remember.”

Spokane’s Kevin Fletcher shared this.

“Sure, there were Halloween nights where we had snow, wind, rain and everything in between. But we have a family tradition that kept us warm. Our mom always made a big pot of clam chowder on October 31st. We could not go trick or treating until we ate some of it. My siblings and I still make clam chowder on Halloween night as does our mom. It still keeps us warm.”

Slice answer (esoteric expertise): “In addition to my extensive knowledge of medieval science and medicine, I am a specialist in Latin plays written at English universities in the 16th century,” wrote Bill Mahaney.

Today’s Slice question: Did/do your kids want you to drop them off a block or so away from school?