About 200 adults and children showed up for Jefferson, Wisconsin’s first ever downtown trick-or-treating festival, Boo Bash, on Wednesday evening. 

The Jefferson Chamber of Commerce ran the event and several businesses, such as Wedl’s Hamburger Stand and the Jefferson Public Library, lined up and down South Main Street to hand out candy to the children. 

The streets were full of volunteers wearing funky and matching costumes. The Jefferson Public Library volunteers wore matching banana costumes, and a couple blocks down, there were more volunteers in “Despicable Me” minion costumes. 

Kelly Becker, one of the volunteers, said, “My favorite part of this event so far is getting the community together and involved.” Her and her friend, Bonnie, were very happy with how many people turned out to participate. 

“I like seeing everyone happy and together again,” Bonnie said. 

Although this is the first ever Boo Bash, the Jefferson Chamber of Commerce is planning on trying to have Boo Bash every year. It is going to be an annual Halloween event in which children and their families can go trick-or-treating and experience activities, like a photobooth, drawings, and giveaways.

“I’m just so glad we got to do it this year,” Denise Derry of the Jefferson Chamber of Commerce said. “We wanted a way to bring the community together because of the past years during the pandemic. We hopefully plan on doing more Boo Bashes moving forward.”

The event started with the families crowding downtown Jefferson pretty quickly. Several police officers were up and down South Main Street directing traffic. 

Most businesses scattered through Jefferson had parking lots that were completely full. Lots of cars were circling South Main Street. 

A little over 30 businesses participated in handing out candy to the families. Some children seemed to like the Jefferson Public Library’s candy the most. Probably because of the banana costumes. 

By the end of the event, the street’s traffic started to simmer down because of the thunderstorm that was approaching. Luckily, the event ended before the storm reached Jefferson.

“Our director is leaving, but that doesn’t mean we are not going to continue on with what we are doing,” Derry mentioned. “Which, obviously, is a huge success!”

Becoming one’s full self is something every human being aspires to achieve at some point in their life.

For Trevor Barrett, 22, becoming his full self was a challenging yet rewarding experience.

Barrett first knew he was transgender when he was 5 years old when his mother asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up. He responded with “I want to be a man.”

When Barrett was 16, he came out to his friends as a transgender male. Four years after that, he came out to his family.

“Two of my siblings don’t fully support me,” Barrett said. “But other than that, everyone else has been amazing.” 

Barrett mentioned that the scariest part of his transition was coming out to his mother. He casually came out to her five months after he started testosterone by showing her the bottle of it. His mother was, and still is, very supportive of him. 

Aside from the fear of coming out to his family, Barrett said one of the worst parts of transitioning was having to go through physical and mental changes. 

“Mainly just trying to conform my body to what I wanted it to be was the worst part,” Barrett stated. 

Before Barrett got top surgery, he wore a binder for his chest. Barrett expressed how he loved the look of binding, but its physical effects, such as rib or lung pain, were hard to deal with most of the time. 

Once he started testosterone, Barrett experienced a decrease in his mental health. 

“I had depression, BPD, and anxiety to start off with,” he said. “Once I started testosterone, my ADHD and OCD came to light.”

Barrett mentioned that going through his legal name change has been a lengthy and difficult process. He is still waiting on his new social security card after a month and a half. 

Because Barrett’s name isn’t completely legally changed, he still experiences people using his dead name sometimes.

Barrett believes that several things need to change when it comes to transitioning in today’s society. He wants better healthcare for transgender people, more help for transgender youth, and more on board and experienced doctors. 

“Transitioning in today’s society is so much easier than it was in the past,” Barrett commented. “However, we still have a long way to go.”

Hey, y’all!

As I mentioned on my about page, I have loved true crime for years. One of my favorite podcasts to listen to is called Crime Junkie. It is hosted by Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat. They talk about a lot of cases every week, both unsolved and solved.

https://crimejunkiepodcast.com/

Enjoy!