Rest In Peace, Neighborhood Sign

Rest In Peace. You lasted only six days into your seventh season before you were tragically cut down by a careless driver.

I got the photo above yesterday while at work and my heart sank into the pit of my stomach. My mind raced with thoughts of miscreants purposely damaging the sign as an act of malice toward our beloved holiday. Who could do such a thing, and how could I find them to get sweet cold revenge...

When I finally got home, I grabbed a drill, some screws and a few scrap pieces of plywood and headed up to the top of my neighborhood to see what had happened. Any thoughts of vandalism were quickly dashed. I noticed the angle, size and length of the muddy tire track and deduced that someone in a large truck had simply backed out of a driveway too far and crushed my sign. Thanks...

I'm still gutted, but at least it was an accident and not an act of vandalism. And I was able to "Frankenstein" the sign back together. It can be used for the rest of this season but will have to be replaced. Which is also okay, because a new sign with new art will be fun to create.

Rest in peace, neighborhood sign. You will be missed...

  

The Neighborhood Sign Goes Up!

An annual neighborhood tradition continued yesterday morning.

Going on my seventh year as official "Neighborhood Keeper of the Sign," I installed the somewhat-official trick-or-treat announcement sign.

Our neighborhood has a wonderful Halloween tradition in that we ALWAYS celebrate trick-or-treat on October 31st. Rain or shine. Even when the rest of the city has their various scheduled times on the Saturday or Sunday before Halloween. I still don't understand why they have to complicate things?

Back in 2011, I stepped up to create the above sign when the previous keeper's sign became old, faded and then vandalized. In 2010, a small temporary sign was created but I wanted to make one that screamed out the trick-or-treat announcement. So with some great vintage clip art, Halloween fonts, a projector and some paint, Mrs. Highbury and I created one worthy of the High Holiday.

Seven years on, it's looking a bit rough and might need some touch-up paint, but it is once-again placed at the top of the neighborhood, announcing the grand celebration for all.

And even after seven years, I look at the sign when I drive in and out of the neighborhood, and every time I still get a big smile...


Halloween is coming.

  

  

The Neighborhood Sign Goes Up!

Two weeks to go, haunters! That means it's time to perform my annual duty of putting up the "official" neighborhood sign! Trick-or-Treat. October 31. 6-8 pm.

Since 2011, I have "inherited" the title of Keeper of the Sign. It was then that after years of impatiently waiting to see the official trick-or-treat announcement sign go up in our neighborhood that I decided to take matters into my own hands. There was a lull during the 2010 season and a small, handmade cardboard sign was hastily thrown up at the last minute. 

I knew that I couldn't let this continue, so I decided to create a larger, more easily readable, more Halloween inspired sign. For 2011, I hand-painted the sign above and proudly staked it into the patch of grass that leads down into our neighborhood. With this new sign, our neighborhood would continue to buck the city's trend of having trick-or-treat on the Saturday before Halloween, leading to the nightmarish confusion of each neighborhood setting up their own times. 

It's a confusion that still goes on today, and after some discussion among some of the neighborhood residents, it was decided that we would continue to celebrate trick-or-treat on Halloween night, regardless of what night it fell on. For one, I get to reuse the sign I made six years ago, and more importantly, our neighborhood will continue to carry on its long-standing tradition of Halloween night that we get to celebrate with the rest of the city.

For me, it's a win-win!

And after six years of being exposed to the October elements, the sign is still holding up fairly well. A few touch ups here and there and it should last for another couple of years, when just maybe, it might be finally time for me to retire as Keeper of the Sign and allow someone else with a passion for all things Halloween to step up and create the next sign that will carry our neighborhood tradition into the next generation!

  

The Neighborhood Sign Goes Up

7:00 am and it's 46 degrees, cold, rainy and miserable. A perfect morning to go right back to bed, but I had a job to do. I pulled myself out of the comfortable warmth of my bed and layered up.

I made my way to the garage and grabbed all my necessary tools to complete today's task: putting up the neighborhood trick-or-treat sign! As official keeper (and creator) of the sign, it's my yearly duty to place it at the entrance to the neighborhood, informing everyone of this year's trick-or-treat time. 6-8 pm. October 31st. Always. 

Our fantastic neighborhood has a long-standing tradition of keeping trick-or-treat on Halloween night, regardless of the day it falls on and regardless of what the geniuses of City Council try and schedule for this year... 5-7 pm on Saturday? No thank you.

This site is beautified by the Merriman Hills Garden Club. And Highbury Cemetery.

And because of the fact that it always seems to rain constantly when the sign goes up, it looks to have another year or two at most before it's time for a new sign. But for now, I'll drive slowly into my neighborhood each time, admiring that familiar vintage ghost and haunted house graphic, and then panicking in realizing that Halloween is so close!

It's also about time for me to start looking cautiously at the upcoming weather report for Halloween night. For the past 4 or 5 years, it has only led to disappointment, as we have had rain on Halloween night, so I think that we are long overdue for a break from Mother Nature.

It's still just over a week away and I know that the forecast will change at least 6 or 7 more times, but so far, so good. Fingers crossed that it stays this good...

  

The Neighborhood Sign Goes Up

Each Halloween, I put up the sign that announces the official trick-or-treat time for our neighborhood (October 31, as it should be...). It was another nice day today, so I decided that it was time for the sign to go up.

I created this hand-painted sign a few years back and it is showing some age after the previous seasons of cold and rain (and then spending the rest of the year in my garage). It should hold up for another year before it's time to make some repairs.

But for now, the neighborhood trick-or-treat is set! Time to get ready!!

Halloween Weather Forecast Update: 

A slight improvement, but I'll take it. Fingers crossed that it will continue to improve toward a dry Halloween night!

  

The Neighborhood Sign Goes Up

After a quick touch up from last year's rain damage, my Trick-or-Treat sign took its rightful place today, at the top of the neighborhood. We're keeping the tradition going, bucking the trend of all other surrounding neighborhoods having their trick-or-treat this Saturday. 

For over 12 years running, our neighborhood will again be having our trick-or-treat on Friday, October 31. Halloween night!

The countdown is on!!


And it's time to check that weather forecast...

Party sunny, becoming cloudy   53˚/40˚   4% chance of precipitation

An acceptable outlook, but I'm still going to be keeping my fingers crossed, desperately hoping that it doesn't rain. Only 8 days to go!!

 

The Neighborhood Trick-Or-Treat Sign, 2013

Less than two weeks to go until the big night, so it's my civic duty to inform the residents of my neighborhood of the date and time for trick-or-treat! 

As a neighborhood, we have always done our own thing and celebrated trick-or-treat on October 31, regardless of what the city plans (they have been very good lately at making different areas have different dates and times and causing mass confusion).

Three years ago, I "inherited" the position of Official Trick-Or-Treat Sign Creator and Overseer after the previous position-holder's sign had been vandalized and removed, leaving some doubt as to whom should pick up the duty for the following year. A temporary sign was made, but failed to elicit the enthusiasm necessary for a holiday of this magnitude...

So I decided to step in. A new sign was made and installed with great response. 2013 marks the third year of its usage, and while Mother Nature has done her best annually to pummel it, the sign continues to hold up nicely (aside from a few chips that will need some touch-up paint).

This morning I made my way up to the top of the neighborhood and installed the sign in it's annual place of prominence...

...right beside the all-important "Drive 25" safety sign.

And of course 30 minutes after the sign went up, the rains came down. Do your best, Mother Nature, but dammit, give me the 31st. That's all I ask!

 

My Neighborhood Halloween Sign Goes Up!

Neither long hours at work nor crabby wife nor even crying baby can deter me from my mission tonight! Two weeks until the big night means only one thing: the neighborhood sign proclaiming the official date and time of trick-or-treat must go up!

And because we are a traditional neighborhood, we keep up with tradition. Trick-or-treat is, as always, October 31st, from 6 to 8 pm (no matter how much City Council wants to further erode the holiday by assigning different days and times for different neighborhoods...3 to 6 pm? Really??).

This is the second year for my version of the official neighborhood sign, a job I took over after 2010's tepid effort. And a job I was more than willing to take on, for this is a project that I do not take lightly. I just hope that the sight of this sign tomorrow morning will excite the neighborhood kids as much as it excites me...

Two weeks to go and a full list still to get through. The clock is ticking!