Continuing a yearly Halloween tradition here on SteveandAmySly.com…

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown debuted on October 27, 1966, as the third Peanuts television special (the first obviously being the Christmas one). It is here that most of the world who wasn't reading the comic strips was introduced to Linus Van Pelt's fascination with "the Great Pumpkin".

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown LP from 1978

Charles Schulz thought it would be funny to see what happens if a child confused Halloween with Christmas… and the rest was history. This year, the show is celebrating its 44th anniversary.

While most are familiar with the TV version of this story, many might not know that an audio-only adaptation of the show was created on record in 1978. This shortened-for-LP version contains all the same voice talent and sound effects, but scripted as an exclusive listening experience. The original record has long been out-of-print and surprisingly has never been released on CD.

(If you listen carefully, you can hear the audio voice talent edits done to make the for-TV audio work as an audio-only experience… and note that these edits aren't done with the same voices.)

As a special Halloween treat, you can download this audio story here in MP3 format… but just during Halloween season only! Once November 1 comes around, it's gone! Enjoy

Download
It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (Part 1) [Link Expired]
(MP3, 9:38, 13.4MB)

It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (Part 2) [Link Expired]
(MP3, 9:15, 12.9MB)

The first Monday in March is always a school holiday here in Illinois, thanks to Revolutionary War hero, Casimir Pulaski. He was a Polish cavalry officer known for his contributions in training U.S. soldiers.

Kazimierz Pulaski, a.k.a. Casimir Pulaski (Source: Wikipedia)

Given that Chicago has the largest Polish population outside of Poland's capital city of Warsaw, we celebrate his birthday via Casimir Pulaski Day! Starting in 1977, it's been a city/county government holiday, which includes the public schools (and most private) getting the day off. I have always particularly been fond of Mr. Pulaski because his little day of honor always fell around my birthday of March 2, meaning quite often I got a "no school birthday" growing up. (Incidentally, both Indiana and Wisconsin also honor Pulaski, but not to the extent of Illinois. Though in the case of the Hoosier state, they actually designated part of I-65 from the Kankakee River to I-90 as the "Casimir Pulaski Memorial Highway").

So, hoist your bottles of Fanta Pomaranczowa and Fanta Lemonic high and drink a toast to Casimir Pulaski!

Hey, it's February 2, and besides being Groundhog Day, it's also our 8th wedding anniversary! That's right, on 02/02/02 at 2:02 p.m., we tied the knot!

Sure, we've changed at little…

… but it's been a fun ride. Love ya, Ames!

(Wait, does that mean this blog is 8 years old? Wow, I better work on a redesign soon!)