Halloween was regarded with various levels of excitement and fear in Otis Allen’s formative years. As a young child, Otis and his family would follow the classic family tradition of dressing up in family costumes and parading around the neighborhood greeting neighbors and collecting treats. Otis was particularly fond of dressing in costumes with an occupational theme. As a young boy he would pick sheriff, firefighter, and astronaut costumes. Although Halloween would never be Otis’s favorite holiday, for a period of time it would definitely be one of his least favorite. Otis hit a growth spurt at an early age, in addition to always being a bit overweight for his height. This would lead to a period of bullying that would last for a few years during middle school that would only be exacerbated by the Halloween holiday. Allen’s classmates would often pick on him for his costume choices, paying particular attention to his weight as a theme. It would be a years until Allen would rekindle his love for Halloween when he was able to make financial gain from it. As a stipulation of his contract with Ragu, Allen would make Halloween appearances dressed as a Ragu meatball, roaming the neighborhoods on Halloween night and surprising the citizens of San Jose with a guest appearance at their trick or treating stops.
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