The Milwaukee Post

10 • Milwaukee County Post • October 27, 2017 By SYED HASNIAN Special to the Post BROOKFIELD — Piggyback and inflatable costumes are a popular new trend this year. Piggyback costumes cre- ate the illusion of the wear- er riding on top of some- thing or someone, such as a dinosaur, leprechaun, pro- fessional wrestler or even President Trump. Inflatable costumes allow for cus- tomers to blow themselves up into the form of sumo wrestlers, Ghostbusters, Tyrannosaurus rex dino- saurs, marshmallow men, etc. Halloween Express loca- tions are in Waukesha, Milwaukee, Kenosha and Racine. Bartz's Display in Menomonee Falls is anoth- er local option for Halloween costumes and decorations this year, with costumes and accessories for young children, teen- agers and adults. Spirit Halloween is open with locations in Pewaukee, Racine and Oak Creek. Party City locations are in Milwaukee, Racine, Kenos- ha and Brookfield, with pop- ular top sellers like the inflatable T. Rex, girl cop, Mr. Incredible, Harley Quinn and "Star Wars" cos- tumes. Halloween lovers who want to celebrate the holi- day but don't have the time or means to visit these stores can use the BuySeasons service. BuySeasons is a company based in New Berlin that delivers costumes and party supplies. "A squadron of brave men and women work year- round in the company's not- so-secret headquarters in suburban Milwaukee to save the day for costume lovers and party planners everywhere," says the BuySeasons website. For more information, call 262- 901-2000 or visit www. buyseasons. com. According to the Nation- al Retail Federation, 31 per- cent of consumers plan on wearing a classic Halloween costume this year, while 16 percent plan on dressing as a TV character, 15 percent as a movie character, 14 per- cent as a superhero or vil- lain, 13 percent as an ani- mal and 11 percent as a sports persona. The same survey showed that a major- ity of consumers will be making their own costume, with women 9 percent more likely than men to create their own costume and men 3 percent more likely than women to wear again a cos- tume they already own. Presidential piggyback and Tyrannosaurus rex are two particularly popular costumes this Halloween season. MILWAUKEE — A survey released by the National Retail Federation said con- sumers are expected to spend a record $9.1 billion in Halloween spending this sea- son. The figure is up 8.3 per- cent from last year's record of $8.4 billion. Consumers are expected to spend an average of $86.13, up from last year's $82.92, with an estimated 179 mil- lion consumers planning to participate in Halloween activities — up from 171 mil- lion in 2016. According to the survey by Prosper Insights & Analytics, consumers are estimated to spend $3.4 bil- lion on costumes, $2.7 billion on candy, $2.7 billion on deco- rations and $410 million on greeting cards. During the season, 71 per- cent plan to hand out candy, 49 percent will decorate their home or yard, 48 percent will wear costumes, 46 percent will carve a pumpkin, 35 per- cent will host or attend a party, 31 percent will take children trick-or-treating, 23 percent will visit a haunted house and 16 percent will dress pets in costumes. "Halloween continues to be a highly anticipated holi- day for Americans, who will spend a record amount this year with increases across all purchasing categories," said Pam Goodfellow, Prosper Insights principal analyst, in a news release. "Expect consumers to be on the lookout for early-bird promotions both online and in-store as they hunt for the best items to complete their costumes and embellish their homes." Trick-or-treat times in area communities Consumers to spend record for Halloween Trick-or-treaters will be out and about in area com- munities this weekend. Keep the porch light on to let trick-or-treaters know they are welcome. The times and days are: Saturday 5 p.m. to 7 p.m — Cudahy 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. — Bay View (the borders are Bay Street on the north, Howard Avenue on the south, Chase/Howell on the west and Lake Shore Drive on the east) Sunday Milwaukee — 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Franklin — 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Greendale — 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Greenfield — 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Hales Corners — 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. West Allis — 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. West Milwaukee — 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. St. Francis — 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. — South Milwaukee If you're looking for a unique family activity, a good place to consider is Rushing Waters in Palmyra, where a person can fish for rainbow trout, and have a great meal without even buying a fishing license. Co-owner Peter Fritsch has been at it since 1997, when he was hired by the farm's founder, Bill Graham. "With his vision and my management it has become what it is today," Fritsch said. Now, I'm not normally the type of guy to go fishing on a "game farm," but the experience was really cool. The property is magnificent and truly interesting to tour. Various ponds held rainbow trout of different sizes, which was just plain fun to look at. My wife and I took our kids, Hunter and Blake, to try their "Hook and Cook" plan where you fish for trout and then the chef at the restaurant — located on the property — prepares them. "The local food move- ment has really helped us," he said. "People want to eat local and care more about what they consume. We grow more trout now than ever yet our reach is small- er." After getting armed with a couple of spincast rod and reel combinations we head- ed down to the pond. Fritsch only allows people to use rods from his own shop and any fish caught must be kept. You could see thousands of trout swimming around, very much like a trout pond you'd find at a sport show, but we were outside enjoy- ing the elements. To my sur- prise, the fish did not bite right away, which was good. We were using red worms as bait and the fish were reluc- tant enough to make it a real fishing situation. They did bite, but Hunter and Blake both had better luck when they stayed low to the ground so the fish wouldn't see them as easily. In about 30 minutes they caught five rainbows. A family next to us had about six people fishing and said that the experience was per- fect for them since they did- n't own a boat or any real gear themselves. It allowed them to have a fishing expe- rience without having to invest in gear. They took the fish home to prepare them but we took ours to the chef. "The Hook and Cook pro- gram is truly a one-of-a-kind deal," Fritsch said. I asked Fritsch if he or the chefs came up with the menu. "Chefs are interesting, let's leave it at that," he said. "Basically we have the building blocks with our products, but let them assemble them with their own touches. They love the freedom we give them." We started our meal with shoestring onion strings, and a cheese and smoked fish platter. Rushing Waters smokes their own fish and also ships fresh trout out all over the world. Both appe- tizers were presented hand- somely and prepared per- fectly — simple and tasty. The trout we caught were cleaned and cooked while we worked on our appetiz- ers. The Hook and Cook plan allows people to have their catch prepared Cajun style, pan fried or beer bat- tered. I had the pan fried while the rest of my family went for the beer battered. Like the appetizers, they were prepared perfectly and were accompanied by fries or potato pancakes, apple- sauce, a nice veggie blend and a chunk of rye bread. Although the fish them- selves were not huge, maybe 12-15 inches, the five we ate offered plenty of food with- out getting overstuffed. It's no surprise to me that busi- ness is going well for Fritsch. "We just opened up a sec- ond location off the farm in Delavan," he said. The restaurant offers a full menu with a nice vari- ety even if a person isn't interested in trout. The ambience is upscale with- out being pretentious and a great patio for the perfect spot to enjoy a glass of wine. If a person or family is look- ing to dip their toe into fish- ing to have a great meal, head to Palmyra and give Rushing Waters a shot. (Dan Durbin writes an outdoors column for the Post. Call Durbin at 644-7940, or email him at ddurbin@bast- durbin.com if you have a story idea.) Dan Durbin/Special to the Post Young anglers fish for trout at the Rushing Waters restaurant in Palmyra. Piggyback into the Halloween season DAN DURBIN Catch dinner at Rushing Waters in Palmyra

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