Holmes teachers reflect and pass on Halloween traditions

In 1989, one teacher was dressing up as a pumpkin for her very first Halloween, while another was already deep into trick-or-treating dressed as G.I. Joe.

Ashley Cardamone, now the 9th- and 7th-grade art teacher at Holmes Junior High, was just about a year old when she wore her first costume. That same year, Kevin Kuker — currently the ninth-grade history teacher — was 8 years old and taking on Halloween as the action figure G.I. Joe.

“When I was G.I. Joe, Nintendo had just come out with Super Mario Brothers,” Kuker said, “but during my time, they didn’t have any video games of G.I. Joe — just the cartoon.”

Cardamone may not remember that first Halloween, but as she got older, the holiday became a big part of her childhood.

“When I was in elementary school — I went to Kingsley in Waterloo — Halloween was like the biggest holiday of the whole year,” she said. “It wasn’t just something that happened at my house at night. The big thing about Halloween was at school.”

Kingsley Elementary, located on a boulevard, hosted an annual Halloween parade that became a major event for students.

“We would all get dressed up in our costumes and do a Halloween parade around the whole boulevard,” Cardamone said. “It lasted most of the day, and it was so much fun.”

Because of that, she usually had two costumes — one for school and another for nighttime trick-or-treating.

Kuker’s Halloween memories were centered more around family traditions.

“One of my favorite parts was going out to the neighbors, collecting candy and then trading with my brothers and sister,” he said.

Kuker grew up with three siblings — his oldest brother Andy, second-oldest brother Ben, and younger sister Katie. “Halloween was always something fun we did together as a family.”

Now, as a parent himself, Kuker said Halloween looks a little different.

“Now my family and I go around our whole neighborhood,” he said. “And now that we live in town, like in Hudson, we make a lot more stops than I used to when I was little.”

His sons now go off on their own with friends, doing independent trick-or-treating, but his youngest daughter, Mallory, still goes door to door with her parents.

“They’re collecting a lot more candy than I did,” Kuker said.

As Cardamone has grown older, her traditions have changed. 

“I do like to watch Halloween movies during the season, but I don’t usually decorate much. Every Halloween, we like to watch silly, spooky movies. Casper the Friendly Ghost is my favorite,” Cardamone said. “Sometimes, we make Halloween-themed food, too. Last year, we made mummy pigs in a blanket. They were wrapped up like little mummies with tiny eyeballs on their heads. It was so cute.”