The Emporia Gazette

May 27, 2012

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While car trunks opened wide with treats at some area churches, and some groups sponsored alternative activities, a herd of trick-or-treaters headed for Rural Street, where a little piece of Halloween heaven opens annually between 10th and 12th Avenues.

Harry Goza and his wife, Jona, anticipate the ghoulish fun almost as much as the children.

The Gozas, and others in the two-block area, put their hearts into decorating their homes and the surroundings in celebration of the 300-plus youngsters who make the treat circuit on both sides of the street.

Up and down Rural Street, homes were decorated with traditional pumpkins, ghosts, a coffin, monsters and a giant purple spider the size of a small car.

The front yard at the Gozas’ home at 11th Avenue held a graveyard and lighted pumpkins lining the front walk.

A black light highlighted an eerie ghost on the south porch, and strobe lights were running on Halloween night. A monster dangled from a second-floor window of the house.

“We’ve got it all cobbed up,” Goza said of the cobwebs that stretch from both sides of the porch and out into the yard.

The Gozas dress up the whole family for the occasion; even their four Boston terriers were garbed in new Halloween costumes this year.

The neighborhood enjoys providing an entertaining trick-or-treat experience, along with an array of goodies to go with it, Goza said.

“Halloween is for children and children need a safe place to go,” he said. “Rural Street seems to be that place.”