Balfron home of Hallowe’en spirit
Balfron gran Sandra Strang has become a Hallowe’en legend in the village.
For more than 15 years her Moor Road home has been open house to Balfron children out guising.
On Wednesday, around 400 children queued up at her door to perform their party piece and be rewarded with a visit to an Aladdin’s cave of goodies.
While her husband and son head for the hills, Sandra, her 35-year-old daughter Louise Harrower, sister Maryanne Warnock and other members of the family make it a fright night to remember for the village youngsters.
Sandra, 55, who is well known to children in the village as she is a school learning assistant at Balfron Primary, told the Observer: “It is the one time of the year when you can really treat the kids.
“It has escalated over the years and I now get children visiting with their parents who came along when they were young.
“All the children are very well behaved and there is no one who is greedy. They always take what they are supposed to.
“We give out prizes for those who come along in a particularly impressive costume.
“This morning, at school, all the children who came along were thanking me and that was great.”
Louise likened the night to “two hours of absolute mayhem” and added: “My mum just loves doing it and loves kids.
“The children tell their joke or poem or do their dance or song at the door and then they are allowed five sweets, crisps, juice and a toy and my mum and auntie also lay on hot dogs.”
Even the children who are too shy to do their turn are welcomed in and get their share of the treats on display.
Louise added:“Children also come from the surrounding villages and some of the farms to visit and last night was probably the busiest year yet with people queuing down the hall, out the door and up the road.”
Louise’s father Andrew and brother, also Andrew, headed to the cinema during the latest Hallowe’en invasion.
Sandra was reluctant to say how much it cost her but, as she starts planning for next Hallowe’en, she said: “It’s well worth it.”