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!