The Legend The Legend is published monthly by Lake Placid High School, 202 Green Dragon Drive, Lake Placid, FL 33852 Thirsty Vampires & Cackling Witches, It’s Halloween! Volume 7, Issue 4 October 2013 Editor: Savannah Connolly to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. By the 800s Christiani- ty had reached the Celtic lands and this influence caused even more changes to the original Samhain traditions. In the sev- enth century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. Traveling forward a few hundred years, the Europe- ans came to America, each bringing their own Halloween traditions. However, because of the strict Protestant beliefs in New England, Halloween was rarely celebrated there. Alt- hough, as the beliefs and cus- toms of different European eth- nic groups, as well as the Amer- ican Indians, came together, a distinctly American version of Halloween began to emerge. The first celebrations included "play parties," which were pub- lic events held to celebrate the harvest, where neighbors would share stories of the dead, tell each other's fortunes, dance, and sing. By the middle of the nineteenth century, annual au- tumn festivities were common, but Halloween was not yet cele- brated everywhere in the coun- try. In the second half of the nineteenth century (1800s), America was flooded with new The corpse that walks, its solemn line. The vampire stalks, finds blood to dine. The werewolf howls at the silver moon. His human form what's showing at noon. The mummy's cries of pain and loss. His wraps that smell of must and moss. The witch that flies, upon her broom casting curses and spelling doom. The black cat scurries, hisses and claws through the graveyard walks his paws. What’s Inside? Halloween Traditions Top 10 Scary Movies Texting Law Halloween Comics From the Editor Student Spotlight It’s cold. The wind whispers through the trees, throwing shadows across the ground. Somewhere, a dog barks. The darkness is all around; the only source of light is the full moon. The wind con- tinues to whisper, sounding almost like words. Words of prayer…from an ancient time. The origins of Hal- loween dates back to the time of the Celts (in the area that is now England, Ireland, and Scotland) who had a festival called Samhain (sow-in), which they celebrated on October 31. This festival marked the end of the summer and harvest, and the beginning of the cold, dark winter days. On this night, the Celts believed the dead once again walked the earth. In order to protect themselves, they burned great bonfires and brought fruit and vegetables to sacrifice to their gods, asking for protection during the winter. They dressed up in animal skins and danced around the fire, chanting ancient ballads so as to please their gods and the spirits. In A.D. 43, the Ro- mans conquered the Celts and merged two of their festivals with Samhain. The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day immigrants. These new immi- grants, especially the millions of Irish fleeing Ireland's potato famine of 1846, helped to popu- larize the celebration of Hal- loween nationally. Taking from Irish and English traditions, Americans began to dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money, a practice that eventually became today's "trick-or-treat" tradition. Soon, parents were encouraged by their churches and town counsels to take the “frightening” and “grotesque” aspects out of the Halloween celebrations. Because of this, Halloween lost much of its roots. In the 1900s, Hallow- een became more of a time for younger people to make mis- chief. Vandalism was very common, and because of this several areas of the U.S. had to forbid any Halloween celebra- tions. Nowadays, Halloween is a fun time for all ages. Costume par- ties and community gatherings are popular all over the U.S., and some of the more popular traditions include dressing up in fun or scary costumes, bobbing for apples, getting fortunes told, making and consuming sweets, hay rides, haunted house tours, and of course, trick-or-treating! By Alexis Merlo Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. ~Thomas A. Edison A Haunting Upon Us: Harder Hall By Savannah Connolly Harder Hall, built in the 1920s, is a real-life haunt- ed house that is located just off of U.S. 27 in Sebring. Numer- ous people have seen many mysterious paranormal sight- ings on the property and with- in the cob-web trimmed win- dows. With every visit, comes an accident. Curious adrena- line seekers would enter into the tall wooden doors, and there would always be some type of incident, whether it be the floor collapsing or a visitor committing suicide within the walls. It has been claimed that every owner of the building has either died or disappeared under very strange circumstanc- es, often on the property. How’s that for creepy? It has been reported that a female angler stands on the shore of Lake Jackson, lo- cated behind Harder Hall, with her cane pole in hand. This ghostly spirit is said to have been drowned in the lake, and still seeks revenge. Others have reported a mailman in uniform walking the fence that now sur- rounds the property. Visitors have seen lifeless spirits wan- dering the courtyard, and ghosts peering out of the windows with glowing eyes. Could these be victims of the murders and dis- appearences that have hap- pened on the property? No one will ever know. Due to a high number of trespassers, Harder Hall is off limits to the public and is heavily supervised at night. A patrol car is located on the premises at all times. Don’t go making any plans to visit any- time soon, because you could be the next warm-blooded breather that the creatures with- in will consume. Use this QR Code to access the LPHS website. Happy Halloween!
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The Legend The Legend is published monthly by Lake Placid High School, 202 Green Dragon Drive, Lake Placid, FL 33852
