Louise Classon of Sandwich admits that, in some ways, every day is Halloween in her life as she joyfully marches off to work each morning and again in the afternoon – sometimes in costume – doing something she has loved for years.
“I love what I do and look forward to coming out here each day,” she said recently while working as a school crossing guard in Sandwich. “I’m going to be 75 this September and I’d like to make 50 years of doing this which means I’ll be 92.”
Classon was a part-time secretary at Lynn G. Haskin Elementary School in Sandwich over three decades ago and took on an added responsibility as a crossing guard outside the school before it became too difficult to manage both.
“Being a crossing guard appealed to me. A friend of mine used to do the job and then another lady took over for her and then another person told me about it, and asked if I’d be interested in it,” she said. “I thought it would be pretty cool to do it for the kids, you know.
“I also thought it would be nice for the people who go by my corner and kind of start their day off on the right foot,” she said. “I like to get there early and wave at the cars that go by.”
Classon says that anywhere from 400 to 500 cars pass her each day and that among the things that make her presence unique are the various costumes and hats she dons daily that have become legendary among local residents.
“People call me ‘The Hat Lady’ and I wear two hats a day. It’s just how people know me because even when I’m not working on the corner, I’m wearing a hat,” she said. “I own 418 hats and 51 costumes. Every day is Halloween and I love it when I can wear a costume. I try to bring something about history into the corner.”
On April 15, Classon wore an Abraham Lincoln costume to honor the 16th president, who died on April 15, 1865.
“If I can get history – find a hat that has something to do with history – then I’ll also incorporate that into the corner,” she said.
Classon arrives at 7 a.m. each morning at her post on the corner of Wells Street and Lions Road where she’ll remain for about an hour. She’ll return again at 2 p.m. and stay until around 3:15 p.m., she said.
“We drive by and you never know what you’re going to get with the hats and the costumes,” Sandwich resident Kaylie Cartwright, a parent with ties to Lynn G. Haskin Elementary School, said of Classon. “Now my nephew goes to preschool here and he likes to see what she has on. I don’t know where she keeps it all. There’s got to be a lot of storage involved with this but the creativity and the festiveness of it is wonderful.”
Classon said outfits and hats are systematically arranged in her attic.
Her husband Darwin Classon says his wife’s work “is wonderful because she’s found her calling.”
“She wants to do this as long as she can,” he said. “As far as the outfits go, she’s got things marked and nicely labeled and she can go right to them.”
Louise Classon says despite her age and years of service, the weather doesn’t bother her except for when there is lightning.
“I wear eight or 10 layers of clothes in the winter and I have my hand warmers and everything,” she said. “I have a raincoat and I do use an umbrella as long as it’s not windy. I wear sunglasses when it’s raining so the water doesn’t get on my regular glasses.”
Classon says she hopefully “has become everyone’s favorite grandmother” at this point and admits that the feedback and fun she’s had with thousands of students over the years are among the best memories of her work.
“Back in 1998, the student body of Sandwich High School chose me to be the grand marshal for their homecoming parade and they gave me a cowboy hat and there was a bandana on it that said ‘Grand Marshal.’ That will always stick with me. It was very special,” she said.
This school year, another surprise came.
“I had a first this year with these people who don’t cross at my corner, but they drive by my spot and they invited me to their birthday party. That’s never happened to me before,” she said.
Her husband says his wife’s attendance record is outstanding.
Many professionals get sick days each year, but when Classon isn’t able to report there aren’t a bank of substitutes waiting in line.
“They have to call the police department when I’m not there,” she said. “The next day. My daughter gets messages from all kinds of people asking where was I.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
