Halloween’s not just for the little ones, and some local adults just couldn’t wait for the eve of All Saints Day before they celebrated. The Newtown Congregational Church Circle of Love women’s group gathered for a Halloween party Wednesday evening, October 24, at Louise Baker’s home, with some of the creative costumes giving guests a good laugh, as this picture Louise sent to The Bee shows. The very puffed up nurse standing with Louise’s granddaughter, Rebekah, is actually Ester Nichols.

Apparently, super-inflated arms make it hard to party, as Ester “pulled the plug” on herself shortly after this photo was taken, reports Louise, sending Ester back down to her usual proportions. Whew.

There were a lot of Red Sox costumes around town on Wednesday. I guess Halloween was a good excuse for the band of Red Sox fans to flaunt their pride. And why not? Fans who once thought they might never see one World Series Championship for their Boston team can now celebrate the second World Series Championship in four years after the Sox crushed opponents Colorado Rockies in a four game sweep this past weekend.

Just one more word about Halloween, I promise, and next week I’ll move on to Thanksgiving gossip. Visitors to The Bee on Halloween might have thought they had gone too far and ended up on Main Street. Sandy Tannone handled the front desk under the guise of Trinity Church; Sherry Baggett managed the office decked out as The Meeting House; and the piece de resistance, Bridget Seaman, stood tall dressed up as The Flagpole, complete with lights and a bright yellow model Volkswagen accessory — which several people suggested should be depicted crashed into her side….

Oh, okay. One more mention of Halloween. Loads of people piled on the makeup as part of their spooky disguises Wednesday evening. But who knows if that makeup was animal friendly, that is, not cruelly tested on laboratory animals? If the logo of the leaping bunny was on the makeup package, you know you bought an animal friendly product. How do I know this? The Animal Center has a nice little article in the fall newsletter. The Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics (CCIC) was formed in 1996 out of consumer frustration in identifying animal safe products. The coalition’s purpose is to “promote a meaningful, reliable and comprehensive anti-animal testing standard and logo for cosmetics, personal care, and household products.” Thus, the leaping bunny logo. Look for it whenever you shop. I know I will.

Yvonne Grimes stopped into The Bee this week to tell me about her amazing experience the early part of October as an international official for the 2007 World Special Olympics in Shanghai, China (perhaps you recall a story in The Bee a few weeks back, when Yvonne was preparing for this trip). One of 15 international officials, and one of only two from the United States, Yvonne said that the trip was “just tremendous. The Chinese could not have done more to make us feel welcome. We were greeted at the airport with huge bouquets, they measured and fitted us for all of our athletic clothing, provided us with raincoats when it rained; it was amazing. They wanted everyone to have a tremendous time, and we did.”

Yvonne’s duties included training 14 Chinese officials for Special Olympics officiating, with the help of student translators, and the staging of the athletes before each event. A typhoon put the kibosh on events one day with rains so heavy that everyone was sent back to their hotels to batten down the hatches. When events resumed, though, Yvonne is pleased to report that three Connecticut residents were awarded the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Awards for the 10,000-meter race. So nice to know that people from 164 countries can have a great time celebrating each other’s successes.

If you have had success reading my column this week, make sure next week to… Read me again.