Oct. 31, 2008--The town was awash with goblins, firefighters and tinkerbells young and old.  Salida celebrated the holiday with dress up parties and contests by the Boys and Girls Club, Kiwanis, KHEN community radio and Wal-Mart.  Of course we knew it was coming because of the carved pumpkins, inflatable ghosts and straw scarecrows decorating houses weeks before.  Why write about this?  A friend who has moved here recently from Florida mentioned how enthusiastic people here are about the holiday.  She said nobody in Naples dressed up their homes!  What about their dogs?  I heard of an owner who costumed her labrador as a chicken!  Kids and Moms and Dads trick or treated way after dark, guess 'cuz it is so safe here.  And, the adults partied way after that!  These hometown observations compliments of Leslie Walker.