Residents explain how they get to become anything they want to be on this imaginative holiday.
By Rich Wicks | Guthrie Center Times, october 2025
Halloween is a special time of year when most anyone can put on a costume or mask and temporarily take on a different persona. It can be liberating to become someone or something completely apart from our usual roles, even if only for a short time.
Some opt for a frightening look. Some prefer costumes that are funny. Some like to dress as a favorite celebrity. Some costumes are difficult to categorize.
Nowadays, almost any costume that can be imagined can be purchased with a visit to a store or the click of a computer mouse. But, for some, the creation of a costume can be just as rewarding as the final product.
Regardless of the individual’s preference — whether it is store-bought or homemade, and whether it is simple or elaborate — costumes can be a lot of fun. Here are a few examples of local people who enjoy getting into the seasonal fun.
Nichole Uhlman, the costume queen
Nichole Uhlman created a rollercoaster costume.
Nichole Uhlman of Guthrie Center has been referred to by friends as “the costume queen,” and there is strong evidence to back up that title. Uhlman talked about her lifelong involvement in creating unique and memorable looks.
“Ever since I was little, I loved dressing up. I loved Halloween. My mom made some of our costumes,” Uhlman said. “Then, all through high school, I just loved the themes and dressing up for homecoming and trying to be creative.”
Uhlman now involves her husband, Jared, and her sons, Jace and Jax, in her costume fun. She explained a creative Halloween costume that came about during her first pregnancy.
“When I was pregnant with our first son, and my mom was there, she painted my belly. That was fun,” Uhlman said. “And now I’ve gotten more into making bigger costumes and going out with friends to the Owl’s Nest or The Port. So, it’s become a tradition, and people always ask what I’m going to do for the next year.”
Over the years, Uhlman has entered costume contests locally and in larger cities, and she has won various awards.
“My jellyfish costume has been my favorite. I won first place at Owl’s Nest, and then a couple years ago, I took it to Des Moines with a couple of my girlfriends, and I won three different contests. I won $1,300 in one night.”
Uhlman enjoys the challenge of creating unique costumes from scratch.
Nichole Uhlman as Marty McFly, ready to go back to the future.
“That one I put a lot of work into. I actually used a sombrero as the base, and then bubble wrap, and I hot glued it together,” she said. “It’s got 45 individual lights that all have to be turned on.”
Uhlman recalled being surprised at the attention her jellyfish costume attracted.
“The first bar that we went into, everyone started clapping. Then, I almost felt famous, because people just kept coming up to get pictures taken with me. It was the same at every bar we went into.”
Uhlman’s costume creativity extends far beyond Halloween.
“I have an older sweater dress, and one of our friends had a Christmas party, so I went to a dollar store and a thrift store and bought the ugliest ornaments I could find, and I put them all on that dress, just making it more creative,” Uhlman said.
Uhlman plans to continue having costume fun with her family and friends.
“It’s fun to be something that you normally aren’t and to create something that’s unique,” she said.
Trysten Johnston says the challenge is to outdo the previous year’s costumes
Trysten Johnston trims the hedges as Edward Scissorhands.
The Johnston family in Adair has found that Halloween fun doesn’t end just because a child attains a certain age. Tera Johnston explained that her son, Trysten, continues to enjoy transforming, via costume, each year.
“We have four kids, and when they were little, I always made their costumes. It was always a fun thing to do. And I think that exploded into a love of dressing up for Halloween,” Tera said. “Trysten is still a kid at heart, so he just loves that aspect of it. Every year, we figure out what he wants to be, and people love seeing him go door to door.”
Tera recalled the fun of last year’s costume, when Trysten became a movie character.
“A lot of people commented last year when he was dressed as Edward Scissorhands. I feel like the character is very much relatable for Trysten,” Tera said. “Edward seems to display some autistic characteristics, so it was almost the perfect character. We go full out for Halloween, but then sometimes I’ll find him with parts of a costume on at other times.”
Most years, Trysten’s costume is purchased rather than made.
“When the kids were little, I usually made their costumes. But he’s almost 6 feet tall now, so there’s a little more involved,” Tera said. “At this point, life has gotten a little busier, so we usually buy the costume, and the makeup I’ll do. Our daughter is really good at theatrical makeup, too. So, last year, for Edward Scissorhands, Trysten came here (to Revel salon) and we did his makeup, and then we did our photo shoot here with him pretending to cut hair. We usually make videos and do a whole photo shoot. Like, when he was Teen Wolf, we went to the park to shoot baskets, just like in the movie.”
Trysten Johnston’s Randy Macho Man Savage is ready to “snap into a Slim Jim.”
Tera said finding costumes is relatively easy, but there is a different challenge.
“It’s getting harder to outdo the previous year,” she said. “We’ve already found this year’s, but that’s something we’re keeping on the downlow, because we do our big reveal on Halloween day.”
Tera said each year, Trysten studies the speaking pattern and mannerisms of whatever character he imitates, so he can fully get into the role.
“Last year, when he was Edward Scissorhands, little kids were coming up to him saying, ‘Hi, Edward,’ and then he’d answer back in character,” Tera said.
Tera appreciates that even though Trysten is older than most trick-or-treaters, people welcome his trick-or-treating in costume each year.
“It’s a chance to pretend to be something else,” she said. “It’s just the little things that bring such joy.”
When asked about his favorite costume, Trysten had an immediate answer.
“Randy Savage,” he said. “I like his boots.”
Kate Brown’s community theatre experience helps with her costume designs
Kate Brown of Guthrie Center enjoys expressing her creativity through costumes, and Halloween is only a portion of that.
Kate Brown’s zombie costume is ready to scare.
“Probably my first experience in really dressing up, and not even in a Halloween setting per se, was ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show,’ ” Brown said. “I’m a huge fan of that movie, and I’ve collected a lot of costumes related to it. A lot of people dress up for ‘Rocky Horror’ as one of the characters. It’s fun; it’s campy. People shout things at the screen. It’s a way good time.”
Brown is also active in community theatre. She showed several examples of clothing and accessories that she has found, altered or created to help with a costume in a play. One item was a pair of 3-D glasses that she thrifted for 75 cents, then removed the lenses to create “eyeglasses” for use in a theatre production.
“I thoroughly enjoy doing this. I thrift a lot of my costume stuff. When we did ‘Rocky: The Musical,’ I was Linda McKenna, the news reporter, so I had to collect some 1970s-type clothes,” Brown said. “To me, it’s like the thrill of the hunt when I go thrifting to see what I can get.”
Brown also repurposes clothing that has outlived its original use. She showed a rack of neckties.
“These actually were Dad’s ties; nothing is uglier than your dad’s 1970s ties,” she said. “We used a lot of these for the ‘Rocky: The Musical’ production.”
Another favorite prop is a set of braided yarn “hair” (Willie Nelson style) that Brown wanted. When she couldn’t readily find such an item, she quickly realized she could make it herself.
This ‘flapper costume is another one of Kate Brown’s creations.
“This was something I made for myself, just using my own creativity. Basically, I took a headband, and I started wrapping yarn around it, and I braided it,” Brown said. “It maybe took not even a whole week, just while I was sitting watching TV.”
Because of her history in live theatre, Brown’s closet holds many costume pieces from previous productions. When a new need arises, she often finds a piece she can reuse.
“As far as Halloween, I’ve just always loved it. Each year, I try to pick a character that people might not see every day,” Brown said. “There were many years I didn’t dress up for Halloween, but my kids are all adults now, so I’ve got time to do stuff like this for myself now.”
Nowadays, Brown likes to put on a costume to wear when she greets trick-or-treaters at her door.
“I’m not a good seamstress; never have been. I can barely sew a button on,” she said. “So, for me, I try to find pieces that are already mostly made.”
Brown encourages anyone interested in putting together costumes to simply take the plunge and try. She said there are many different approaches, and each person can find what works.
Asked if she has a favorite costume experience, Brown had a clear answer.
“I would say probably my favorite was dressing up as Dr. Frank-N-Furter, from ‘Rocky Horror.’ So many people wanted to take my picture, and I could see how much that resonated with people,” she said. “He’s a very recognizable character, and, as soon as they saw me, people would just squeal.”
Pamela Sheley, Wanda the Good Witch
Pamela Sheley as “Wanda the Good Witch” with friend Kellie Lewis and Kellie’s kids, Calvin, Alice and baby Della.
Pamela Sheley, a lifelong resident of Guthrie Center, passed away in November of 2024. Her family recalled her love of Halloween and the character that she dressed as for decades.
Many years ago, Sheley began dressing as Wanda the Good Witch every Halloween. And, although the particular pieces of the costume changed some over the years, the character remained the same.
Sheley’s daughter, Paula Tews, shared the story.
“She just always loved Halloween. At home, she loved getting trick-or-treaters, and she would decorate to the hilt. And even back when I was in school, she would host a Halloween party for my classmates and me. She was the assistant activity director at The New Homestead for several years, and they always had a big trick-or-treat night, and she would dress up as Wanda the Good Witch,” Tews said. “She was always adamant about being ‘the good witch.’ ”
Once Sheley tried out her alter-ego of Wanda, she never tired of it.
“She loved the color purple. She had the hat and broomstick. The purple and black satin hat was a guarantee for at least 20 years,” Tews said. “I had worked in daycare for almost 36 years, and, every year, she would dress up and read Halloween books to the kids and bring crafts for them to do.”
Tews’ daughter, Jordan, recalled that, as intended, Wanda the Good Witch was seen in a positive light by children.
Pamela Sheley as “Wanda the Good Witch” with the Lewis family.
“Kids would ask for her by name, saying, ‘When is Wanda the Witch coming?’ Kids were never scared of her,” Jordan said. “Her Wanda the Witch laugh was iconic.”
Tews recalled that although Sheley loved being in costume, she did not always allow adequate time to prepare.
“My mom was the type that she’d work until five minutes before trick-or-treat time, and then she’d be throwing that costume on at the last minute,” Tews said.
In recent years, Sheley’s health became a challenge, but she continued to enjoy Halloween.
“In 2023, she was in the hospital, so we brought her costume up there, and a few people came up and trick-or-treated with her,” Tews said.
By the fall of 2024, Sheley’s health had deteriorated further.
“Last year, she was in the Des Moines hospital, and they said she could go home on Halloween, and that’s what she wanted,” Tews said.
“She came home and was on hospice for only about a week before she passed,” Jordan said. “But, the first night she was home was trick-or-treat night, and that made her so happy to get to see everybody one last time and put her hat on.”
Pamela Sheley’s gravesite includes her iconic hat.
Sheley passed away on Nov. 3, 2024.
“When we cleaned out her house, there were totes and totes full of costumes and things,” Tews said.
The family realized they wanted to do something meaningful at the gravesite to denote Sheley’s love of Halloween.
“We took her purple witch hat out there and staked it down,” Tews said. “And, we’ll carry on her tradition of making Halloween special for the kids.”