Editor:

Re: John Martin's column "The Witching Hour Approaches."

As one of the witches involved in the debacle over the Puyallup School District's decision to cancel Halloween festivities a few years ago, I have information about the affair that Mr. Martin obviously lacks.

The year prior to the Halloween cancellation, a Puyallup School Board member who'd heard a crackpot sermon about it at church sent a memo on board letterhead to parents, asking them not to send their kids to school in costumes as Halloween was a "satanic holiday" celebrating the devil's birthday (say what?) and that it might imperil the children's souls to dress up as witches and other "demonic" characters. The witch and pagan groups in Puyallup and nearby Tacoma were outraged at this blatant slander and show of religious bias, and showed up at the next school board meeting in high dudgeon (a costume often sported by our Christian neighbours, as well) and bearing information packets for the school board members' edification.

The board, thoroughly embarrassed by the whole affair, chastised the member whose unauthorized memo had started the ruckus and allowed the elementary school kids to wear costumes if they wanted. But all the fun had gone out of the holiday, there was no time left to re-plan the cancelled celebrations, and few did.

The following year, the school board issued a preemptive strike by forbidding Halloween parties at school on the entirely spurious basis that they didn't want to offend the witches. Complete hogwash. They wanted an excuse to stop having Halloween parties, and used "religious sensitivity" to do it.

We have never said we objected to Halloween parties; we just don't want to be called satanists when we don't even believe in him/it. So the same groups who'd protested the previous year contacted the Puyallup School Board and told them, "don't cancel the kids' fun on our account." But the board, petty bureaucrats one and all, did it any way.

Witches, who call it Samhain, an old Gaelic word meaning "Summer's End," view the secular Halloween much the same way un-hung-up Christians view Santa Claus, decorated trees and the rest of the non-religious parts of Christmas: as a social and cultural celbration that adds greatly to the enjoyment of the season. It's fun. It's harmless. And these days the world needs all the harmless fun it can get.

Dana Corby

Anderson Island, Wash