by Veronica Lemaster
Photos Kimberlee Miller
Pumpkins, sweaters, bonfires, cooler nights, and falling leaves are just a few words to describe Fall. Living in the Eagle area, we can also add Farmstead, pumpkin patches, and Boise State football games to that list. Fall is a magical time of the year when colors change to a warm brown and orange and the days are filled with crisp cool air. It’s when we say goodbye to the Summer sun and hello to the last half of the year. With change about to come, we set out to see how people get ready for the Fall season, and what they enjoy most about it. While they each had different answers, they all shared that spending time celebrating with their family and the community was the best part of Fall.
Linda Western
Linda Western from Second Avenue celebrates the changing of the seasons by redecorating her store and getting in the Halloween spirit. Western, the owner of Second Avenue, a consignment, furniture, and gift store in Downtown 
Eagle, says that decorating for Fall has always been a tradition. She sells many items that are fun for the Halloween season. One of her most popular sellers are her Halloween themed garden and outdoor flags. Second Avenue also offers fun table top décor with a cute skeleton or pumpkin heads. She makes sure to bring in festive dish towels that have Halloween décor on them each year to add to excitement to the kitchen. Ornaments that you can hang indoors or outdoors are also available, along with battery operated lanterns that you can carry around while trick-or-treating. The store will also be decorated in a warm Autumn design to make you feel cozy while shopping. “Those are the things our customers always think of us for,” Western said. On Halloween, Western and her staff will be there handing out treats and celebrating the holiday with the community, so make sure to stop by her shop!
Hailey Faulk
When you think of Fall, it’s hard not to think of pumpkin spice. From pumpkin spice lattes, gum, bread, cereal, oatmeal, and many more foods, it’s evident we just can’t get enough of the delicious flavor. Hailey Faulk, manager of Porterhouse deli, couldn’t agree more, and has provided us with ingredients for a delicious recipe we all can’t wait to try. The recipe, pumpkin orange bread, came from her mom which makes it every Thanksgiving and leaves the house smelling delicious according to Faulk.
1 ½ cup sugar
1 15 oz. canned pumpkin
Zest of an orange
Juice of ½ orange, about ¼ cup
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. cardamom
Faulk explains that you can also substitute bananas in for the pumpkin if you’re not a pumpkin lover. If you do that, add ½ cup more sugar since it will be less sweet, and you’re all set! The bread will be available at Porterhouse this Fall, which will leave you falling in love with their version of a classic pumpkin bread.
Paul Anderson
Paul Anderson, a loan officer from American Pacific Mortgage, says Halloween has ironically became the best tradition of Fall. Anderson’s family throws a Halloween party every year that gets the adults more excited than the children. “The adults hijacked Halloween from the kids,” Anderson said, as he explained what the party entailed. A small costume party with family and friends, a costume judging competition, lavish Halloween themed food catering, and Halloween décor that includes a ton of cob webs and scary things jumping out at you. But that’s not all the fun, as Anderson said, a part of the fun comes from decorating the house for the party. “I have a friend that comes over to decorate who has a very, very creative side; so, for her she loves the decorating part,” he said. The main part of the party is dressing up to win the costume contest. “I’m always trying to come up with something different.” Anderson said, adding that last year he went as a doctor. “It’s exciting as it is frustrating; it gets highly competitive, but it brings out peoples’ creative sides.” Halloween has become the biggest holiday in his household with the annual party being the best way to welcome the new season.
Alei Gothberg
Alei Gothberg is a real estate agent for Accel Realty Partners here in Eagle. Gothberg and her family have a fun Halloween tradition that many are aware of: pumpkin carving! Gothberg’s family makes it a big celebration by reserving the Monday before Halloween to carve the pumpkins. This includes her mom and dad, her siblings, her children, her nieces and nephews, and two great-grandmas. In total, they fit around 30 people and pumpkins into one garage. The day starts off by taking everything out of the garage and decorating. The garage is then filled with long tables, pumpkins, children from ages 5 to 24, and delicious Fall food such as clam chowder, apple cider, and Krispy Kreme donuts. Gothberg explains that the kids love carving the pumpkins, but their favorite part is using the jigsaw to open the pumpkin and getting to use all of the carving tools. She adds that incredible artwork always comes out of the evening from the children. They also enjoy seeing the whole family, especially the two great-grandmas. As the evening goes on, one might notice that the garage gets filled with pumpkin guts as they separate the seeds to cook. Things seem to be scattered everywhere by the end of the day, but once it gets dark outside the children know that there’s one last tradition before heading home. Once every pumpkin is carved, they line up all of the grandchildren and light up their pumpkins to see all of the fun designs!
