Photo TR: Spooky October Events

[printersdevil78]

Happy Daylight Savings! Now that October's over, I finally have time to share photos of some of the cool things I got to do with my local Jaycees chapter during what Chuck would call the "grisly month of horror." Enjoy!

Finally, after all 200-some children went home, the Plaza was cleaned up and the leftover pumpkin pails were placed into storage for another year, the few of us who were still standing wound down at a local pizza place run by the brother of one of our members. That was our treat for the night.

 

Hope you enjoyed the photos!

Even Dave likes "Budgie"! Seriously, this thing is right up there with Curious George and the Cat in the Hat. It's going to be a cultural touchstone. I'm insanely jealous!

However, the one that drew the most attention was "Budgie." You've never heard of "Budgie" because it's a book Joanne has personally written, illustrated and mocked up. This is the only existing copy.

 

But rest assured, you WILL hear of "Budgie." Because this thing is going to make Joanne a millionaire many times over. Someday we're all going to be riding a "Budgie" attraction at Universal. And I'm not even being facetious. Just remember you heard about it first on TPR!

As a kindergarten teacher, Mary had access to a number of fun Halloween books for storytime.

Callie also took some turns at storytime. She's a spy, by the way, not a burglar (she had to make that clarification approximately 390 times throughout the evening).

Joanne is used to working with kids as a youth minister, so we made her our queen of storytime. Those who have read this TR all the way through will notice that she came as Silvestra!

Mary got to personally escort this little guy, her unofficial "nephew."

Our past board member Lesley also came out. We had no idea her son led a secret double life as Bob the Builder!

We were excited to see our friends Duran and Wendy come out. Most of us hadn't seen Wendy since June, when she gave birth to a bouncing baby Jack-o-lantern.

The Plaza is has long been of special interest to the local city council, which has been trying for years to rejuvenate the entire downtown area. I think one of my vice presidents put it best: "Tonight is the most people that have been on the Plaza in the past six years--combined."

Or Saul, the Salisbury Jaycees Bear?

 

If you said Brian, you're right! In fact, one of the police officers on hand during the event put his hat on Brian and took a picture because he said in the fat suit, Brian looked like his lieutenant!

Who do you think received more attention from the kids: Brian the personal trainer...

...and ring toss (all recycled from our annual Easter egg hunt).

...a ping pong ball toss...

Games included a beanbag throw...

This is what it was all about.

"Yo, check us out! We got mad Skittlez!"

Another bobbysoxer and Belle.

Another valley girl, the Joker, two princesses, and someone we think was supposed to be Daphne from Scooby Doo (not pictured is Fred, who was also there).

My favorite of the college costumes was a replica of Charlie Brown's ghost from "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." Also pictured: Three Baltimore Ravens, a costume I didn't understand and a dude who apparently didn't get the "Everyone else is dressing up" memo.

Pimp (we let this slide on the "family-friendly" rule on account of no one really knew what he was supposed to be), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and '50s bobbysoxer.

Some of their costumes were wild. From left: '60s hippie, local bike rider and '80s valley girl.

Our chairperson, Mary, who LOVES having her picture taken (note the sarcasm) gave instructions to the dozens of local college students who came out to help.

We encouraged our volunteers to dress in non-scary, family-friendly (our code word for "non-slutty") costumes. I was Fonzie.

The event also served as a promotional opportunity for youth-based non- and not-for-profit organizations like the Cub Scouts.

At the registration table, kids had to pick up a candy ticket with a listing of the numbered trick-or-treat tables. Volunteers at each table checked off their number on each ticket, ensuring that each kid went through only once so we would have enough candy to go around (which we did--with only seven popcorn balls and one bag of Hershey candy left over).

Shake that Laffy Taffy....

This is what 2,160 Tootsie Rolls look like. We received two grants that enabled us to purchase all the candy at no cost to us.

And this was our "alternative pail cart" featuring Batman, Darth Vader, Power Rangers, Disney Princesses, Pirates of the Caribbean and Spider-Man. In all we had 271 pails and bags to hand out. Based on the number we had left over, we estimate that we served a little over 200 kids.

These were some of the 224 pumpkin pails we had to give away when kids registered.

My favorite October event took place on Halloween. Last year the local newspaper reported a sharp decrease in area trick-or-treaters, as some of the neighborhoods around here aren't exactly safe to walk in after dark anymore. Plus parents were worried about drunk drivers, pedophiles, etc. So I came up with an idea of blocking off the mostly abandoned Downtown Plaza and having a safe trick-or-treating event with candy tables, games, prizes, walk-around characters, story time, etc., loosely modeled after Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party.

 

Anyone who thinks I stole the idea for the logo from the Halloween re-theme of the Disney's California Adventure sign is right on the money.

The mummy bows to the greatness that is the Chevy Impala. (It was actually resting on the bumper--it fell over when I pulled away.)

...and eat you!

Because that's when the scary tiny clowns with no bones come out...

No wonder this guy's dead. The surgeon's like, what, 12?

For those who always wondered whatever happened to Elvira.

You call this a graveyard? It doesn't even have a see-saw!

"I can save *how much* on my car insurance?"

Ever wonder what would happen if the Joker and Harley Quinn had a love child? So does this guy.

"I ain't got no body...."

Die, Strawberry Shortcake, die!

It's the haunted toilet! Sit at your own risk.

Any haunted house with a bar is our kind of haunted house!

Q: What's the difference between this and McDonald's?

 

A: You don't get a fancy plate at McDonald's.

Glad we filled up on tombstone cupcakes earlier....

Dave finally met someone! And she appears to be saying "Wassuuuup!!!"

Once it was dark enough, we took a hayride to the haunted chicken house. The campers run this one-night event as a volunteer project, and it was just superb--not to mention free to the community. Jay encouraged us to take a backstage tour for suggestions and photos (though we kind of wish he'd told his security people we were coming--it would have saved us a lot of explaining later on).

Campground Conga!

I had a nightmare that these creepy scarecrows were eating my flesh.

And for our Universal fans, here's Homer Simpson... sort of.

For our Disney fans on the boards, here's Goofy... sort of.

Granted, I was a little biased on this one since I hail from the self-proclaimed "Crab Capital of the World." *Insert your own joke here.*

These were the ones I liked.

Somehow, Dave and I got roped into being pumpkin judges.

Most of the campers entered the pumpkin carving contest. There were two more shelves just like this one.

After Viagra!

Before Viagra.

OMG, Tyler was right! Mayonnaise DOES = death!

Jay, on the left, would be our member who owns the campground. Dave, on the right, would be hoping this picture will *finally* be the one that's Match.com-worthy.

Apparently Jack Skellington had already come and gone.

They had hot cider and tombstone cupcakes for invited guests. The gnats were free!

The evening after the disappointing costume giveaway, we held our annual basket bingo. I'll spare you the photos, but suffice it to say, it was the worst in chapter history. We're pretty sure it's a sign of the economy: Normally we raise over $2,000; this year we didn't clear $900 despite having more donations and advertising than last year.

 

Things began looking up again, however, as we visited the "Ghosts on the Nanticoke" event that weekend at Roaring Point Campground, owned by one of our members. Bet you can't guess what this guy's favorite ride at Universal is (if you said "Jaws," you're right)!

We had advertised that the free Halloween costume shop would be open for two hours, but we didn't have much business after the first 15 minutes, so the costume chairperson and I busied ourselves by organizing items from the chapter's recent military supply drive. This may not look like much, but it represents a portion of more than 500 items collected--plus cards from local elementary school students--for U.S. troops serving overseas.

These Winnie the Pooh and Tigger outfits were more like pajamas than costumes. They're being donated to a local Christmas drive for less fortunate families with children.

High School Musical is now officially part of this TR. That should send the ratings soaring.

All the costumes were donated to us after last Halloween by a local toy store. I just don't understand why hardly anyone wanted free costumes. This stack of Elmos alone retailed for $50 each! In all, we had over $2,700 in costumes to give away absolutely free--and almost no one came.

We had 27 Spider-Man outfits to give away. We ended up giving most of them--along with the other hundred-and-some costumes no one came to pick up--to a local counseling center for mothers with drug abuse problems so they could give their clients costumes for their children. On Halloween, I happened to be in the neighborhood and saw one little boy come out of the clinic wearing one of our pirate costumes. It completely brightened my day.

Next up: the Jaycees gave away 135 Halloween costumes to less fortunate children... or at least we tried to. Through the local school system, we sent out invitations to 175 families "in need." Of those, only 18 children showed up to claim free costumes.

Angela made us all these lovely parting gifts: candy apples dressed up like... caterpillar heads, we think (they may actually have been ladybugs--we were too polite to ask).

And Brian was the only player to correctly guess the murderer, earning him a box of Turtles (because they were on sale at Wal-Mart).

Travis won the Best Actor Award: a canned ham.

Joanne won the Best Costume Award: a box of Hot Tamales (for being so hot).

From left: Old Silvestra, new Silvestra, president of the Dungeons & Dragons club and sci-fi convention organizer sex groupie. Or, as Brian said when he found out I created the characters, "You mean all this s*** came out of your head?"

Kristin to me, via e-mail: So you're going to make the pregnant lady play a glamorous actress?

 

Me to Kristin, via e-mail: No, you're playing an actress who was glamorous 40 years ago. She's old and washed up now.

 

Kristin to me, via e-mail: Oh, cool. Thanks!

 

Two e-mails later: Wait, did I actually thank you for calling me old and washed up?

Dr. Mike played a sci-fi nerd. Call it typecasting (except he has a girlfriend).

Silvestra chats up Dave, who played the head "securi-tay" guard at the civic center where Galaxy Con XII was held.

Travis played the convention organizer, while his wife Joanne played an actress who stars as sexy alien Silvestra (the third actress to play the character since the late '60s) in the next "Space Station X-10" movie. I played the franchise's creator, who was the night's murder victim.

The traditional Murder Mystery Night group shot. These people had no clue what they were in for--but I did. I write a new Murder Mystery for the chapter each year.

However, this dessert pizza was the best part of all! And not just because she abbreviated the organization's name in grapes. Anything with a snickerdoodle crust is OK by me!

Angela is an AWESOME cook! Never mind the carrots and celery--check out the buffalo chicken pizza and antipasti salad! (Not pictured: her equally amazing mozzarella and basil (pronounced bay-zil) pizza. At least I'm told it was amazing. By the time I got to eat, the bazil pizza was gone and the plate was still rattling on the counter.)

Angela and Brian were our gracious hosts this year.

First up was Murder Mystery Night. For those who have never attended one of these (and if you haven't, you should), someone is "murdered," and it's up to the rest of the guests to figure out "who dunnit." Kind of like a living version of the board game Clue. This year we had a sci-fi convention theme. Welcome to Galaxy Con XII!

[thrillerman1]

This sounds like a great event and a cool way of giving back to the community. Thanks for sharing!

[TheRapidsNerd]

This...was a time of merriment. There was candy, humor, and community spirit unlike anything seen before...except maybe last year. Truly, a mon-u-ment-al time that will live through out the ages as legend.

 

This...is Howard Cosell.

 

I don't know whats more inspiring. All the community work you folks do, or the sheer truckload of energy to do it. Well done sir.