My favorite Halloween memories

When I was in 1st -4th grade we lived in Germany.  My dad was in the Army and we lived on base.  those were the best Halloweens ever.  The way the housing was on base was huge apartment type buildings. Each building had three seperate stairwells and each stairwell had four floors with 2 apartments on each floor.  These apartments were more of what we could consider a condo today.  Each was much larger than what we think of when we hear the word "apartment."  Anyway, each stairwell would get together and collect an enormous amount of candy.  The moms would sit out on the front steps and hand out candy and the dads would take the kids out trick or treating.  It would be me, my dad, my best friend Christine and her dad.  We would walk the entire base.  Many buildings would go crazy with decorations, sound effects, etc.  Halloween was a BIG event on base.  I don't know how far we would actually walk in terms of distance but it sure seemed like a lot.  And it is no exaggeration when I tell you we would come home with enough candy to last until the next Halloween.  You know the huge, blue Tupperware bowl your mom had back in the 70's and the smaller green one (I know your family had these too), I would come home with enough candy to fill both of these bowls up to the brim.  And, I'm sure we had "bought" costumes, but I remember dressing up as a gypsy or a cat, etc.    It makes me a little sad that my kids won't ever have a memory like this of Halloween.  Trick or treat just doesn't seem to be a big deal anymore.  Everyone, us included, goes to fall festivals and trunk or treats now.  E came home with a 1/3 of a plastic pumpkin of candy and he was cool with that.  Now, I'm not saying that anyone NEEDS two enormous Tupperware bowls full of candy---but the memory of it is pretty stellar.  :)
Now on to Thanksgiving where 99% of my happy memories involve pie and whipped cream.  LOL :)