Local Ham Confuses Trick-or-Treaters

NEW BLIGHTON, N.H. — Trick-or-Treaters in the southside neighborhood of Burlington aren’t sure if they received a trick or a treat last night from one local man.

Parents say they didn’t know what to make of the objects in their bags.

“My son came home with a walkie talkie and I’m like ‘what is this?!’ I still don’t understand what it does,” said Becky Juang, a parent in the neighborhood.

Ben Wagonroth, the man responsible, says he can explain. “Halloween totally caught me off guard. I only had ten Glucerna Nutrition Bars in the house and I gave those out in about five minutes.”

Wagonroth, a self-proclaimed “tinkerer” and ham radio operator says he felt he had to give something to the kids that rang his doorbell. “I remembered I had a huge box of Beofengs, so I dumped those into a bowl and handed them out, batteries included,” said Wagonroth.

“Those things were CHEAP, about the cost of a large candy bar, and I picked up a bulk order online last month. You know, just to have them around,” he said.

Parents and kids had peculiar looks on their faces when he placed them in their bags. He said one small child cried and a pair of teenagers threatened to “toilet paper” his trees after receiving the strange items. “One kid, though, really liked the flashlight on the top of the radio,” he said.

He says he’ll be better prepared with candy next year, and already has plans to build a scarecrow out of a Collins S-Line and a front-yard cemetery that includes crosses made from sections of Rohn 45 covered with black bed sheets.

By K5KVN, on the scene