What in the Winder is up with Halloween this year? Remember wayyyy back in 2019, how excited we all were that Halloween would fall on a Saturday night in 2020? Well, it may not seem quite as exciting anymore, but it also seems that many Winderians are still planning to Trick-or-Treat, and why not? Trick-or-treating seems like a made-for-pandemic activity: it’s outside, you travel in small groups and don’t stay in any one place for too long, and you wear a mask!
To take our Halloween poll, click on the answer that best describes your Trick-or-Treating plans, then click on the “VOTE” button to register your vote!
That said, the CDC has recommended several guidelines, including practicing social distancing, staying outside, and traveling with groups from within your household if possible. Additionally, as always, hand-washing before and after is urged, as well as bringing lots of hand sanitizer. They also recommend wearing a cloth mask, even under your costume mask, if applicable. Lastly, the CDC reminds families NOT to participate in giving out candy or trick-or-treating if anyone is symptomatic or has tested positive for COVID-19.
Here are a few ways people are getting creative across the country for Halloween this year!
What in the Winder is going on with these crazy spiders appearing everywhere this year? My yard looks like a scene from Arachnophobia. I noticed these wacky webs appearing all around my house in August or September of this year…then I started noticing larger ones all around the neighborhood during my walks. These are not the usual symmetric delicate designs of webs I’m used to seeing in Fall. Instead of well-organized geometric shapes, these new webs are three-dimensional and look more like nests. On every corner of my house, extending from nearly every shrub or tree branch is a giant blob of white sticky strands with a huge 3-4 inch spider poised in the middle, just waiting for me to walk into its web so it can suck all my blood. Some of these webby blobs have more than one spider in them! Gross!
The stuff nightmares are made of…
At first I just thought there must be some unusual weather pattern or insect issue around my house that is causing a congregation of excessive spider webs. Then I saw this article about Joro spiders invading north Georgia, which makes perfect sense, because, 2020.
These spiders first appeared in north Georgia several years ago…but clearly they are spreading rapidly. After all, they are referred to as “invasive,” and researchers have found that they utilize a “ballooning” technique to spin a web into the air, catching a wind current, which enables them to travel 50-100 miles before landing in a new spot to nest. (!!!) This is the first year I’ve ever noticed them taking over my yard here in Old Town Winder, even though they first landed in Hall County or somewhere further north in the state of Georgia. Another article states that their webs are so large and strong, they can capture hummingbirds in them! UGH.
Anyway, it looks like they are here to stay – they are not deadly to humans but it doesn’t seem like it would be fun to get bitten by one, so I am going to keep my distance. Please excuse the poor quality of photos I included here – I didn’t want to get too close or disturb their web! You can see the leaves and debris suspended in their web too… Meanwhile, watch where you walk in Winder! They seem to be everywhere…
With growth, comes change. Sometimes that includes “out with the old, in with the new.” Recently, part of a historic building at the corner of Broad St. and Midland was torn down to make way for a parking lot.
While it’s always a bit painful to destroy parts of a town’s history, it’s often necessary for growth and sometimes it even reveals interesting new discoveries. In this case, a ghost sign from Benson’s Bread was found on what was originally an exterior wall near the old Midland Railroad Station.
Benson’s Bread is still in operation today and celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2018. According to their website, Benson’s Bread was “founded by W. Howard Benson in the picturesque foothills of Northeast Georgia…and has been a supplier of of quality bakery products since 1918.”
Jennifer Faulk, owner of Yesteryear Restorations, resident of Old Town Winder, and member of the Barrow Preservation Society, headed up the project of preserving the delicate remnants of the sign. After the sign was exposed post-demolition, Barrow Preservation Society took charge of the project and was solely responsible for collecting the privately donated funds required to preserve the landmark sign.
“While we would have loved to leave it as a more vintage-looking ghost sign, it was just not feasible due to the age and condition of the painting,” Faulk stated. The initial plan was to just put a clear coat over the surface of the image, but the paint was flaking off and made it nearly impossible to preserve in its original condition. Therefore, the image would have to be touched up with new paint.
Barrow Preservation Society hired two local contractors to execute the task of preserving and restoring the sign. Paul Innecken, long-time Winder resident and local business owner at The Sign Shop, applied the new paint after the area was thoroughly prepped and cleaned. “Paul is well-known around town for his impeccable talent, so we knew he had to be the one to paint the sign. He and his wife Joy have always been very involved in the community. They have a vested interest in preserving antique vintage charm, so Paul was happy to jump on board with the project,” Faulk stated.
“Johnny Cable did a great job preparing the fragile signage, removing tar and gunk, and applying the clear coat to the sign so that it could be touched up by Paul,” Faulk said. “Johnny also grew up in Winder and is very interested in preserving the vintage charm of the town. He does invaluable work helping me to restore and preserve historic homes in Old Town Winder,” Faulk added.
Follow the Barrow Preservation Society on Facebook to donate, join, or obtain information about current and future preservation and restoration projects around Winder. It’s not too late to donate funds to this project, and the team still needs scaffolding to complete the project and finish restoring the top part of the sign. Donations of money or equipment are a tax write-off, according to Gwen Hill, treasurer of BPS.
Winder natives and local businessmen Paul Innecken and Johnny Cable work on cleaning and preserving the Benson’s Bread sign as BPS treasurer, Gwen Hill, and project manager, Jennifer Faulk assist.
