Sam's 1st Halloween

via Salem News Online:

On her first Halloween in Salem, Samantha Stephens was busy all night. The bronze representation of "Bewitched" star Elizabeth Montgomery in Lappin Park was posing with fans almost nonstop.

"We came all the way from Boston," said Joan Pennant as her niece Yuniesh Robinson peeked above Samantha's broomstick. "I grew up with Samantha."

"Sam is my role model," joked an older niece, Fiona Gerrick, after snapping a picture.

"I love her," Pennant said. "I wish I was a witch. ... I would change the world. I would change evil for good."

A smiling Mayor Stanley Usovicz arrived moments later to see how the new statue was being received.

"What's the consensus?" he asked.

In fact, a steady stream of fans took turns coming near, touching the cold metal, sometimes bending over to read the bronze plaque on the sidewalk.

"Can I get up on the broomstick?" A woman studied the figure before deciding it can't be done and settling for a picture just standing beside the tin goddess.

"I hear people say it's ugly," said Pat Ayres of Salem. "There are a lot of ugly things in the city. But, believe me, it's not ugly. It goes with the city."

Kids seemed especially drawn to Samantha. And visitors from all over the world stopped to touch the TV Land creation.

"It's a really popular TV show," said a wistful Patricia Kimoto, a tourist from Mexico. Both the recent movie and the 1960s television show are well-known south of the border, she explained, as companion Javier Felix snapped her picture.

And why not?

"It's about the witch," Kimoto said. "It's about magic. I want to be like her, but in real life."