Northwood News ♦ December 2020

First House Decorating, Pet Costume Contests Huge Success

Halloween House Decoration Contest Winners

This Halloween, NFCCA celebrated the first annual House Decorating and Pet Costume Contests.  Initially created to make the holiday more festive despite COVID restrictions, the contests drew more than 30 participants for the House Decorating Contest and another 25 entries for the Pet Costume Contest.

[Note:  Click on photo to see larger version.]

Volunteer judges from the neighborhood — mostly families with young children — determined the winners of the House Decorating Contest.  Those winners were:

• Spookiest:  Jean Hickey at 1118 Chiswell Lane.
• Most Creative:  Carol Bannerman at 10819 Margate Rd.
• Fall Festival:  Robin Loube at 10601 Cavalier Dr.
• Kid’s Choice:  James family at 10516 Edgewood Ave.
• Best Jack-o-Lantern:  Cox Family at 413 Belton Road.

Pet Costume Contest winners were determined by what pet had the most reactions on Facebook.  The winners were:

• First Place:  Cimba the Cheerleader, entered by Roxanne on Glenwild.
• Second Place:  Dawgie Howser, M.D., entered by Lisa on Northwood.
• Third Place:  Dogter of Philosophy, entered by Lisa on Northwood.
• Runner Up:  Poodle trio, entered by Janet on Lombardy.

Winners in the House Decorating Contest each received a $25 gift card to Red Maple Restaurant, a sign in their yard for a week displaying their victory, as well as bragging rights for the year.  Pet Contest winners each received a $15 gift card and a bag of pet goods compliments of Loyal Companion, the pet store located in the Burnt Mills Shopping Center.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the contests, and a special thanks to all our judges who took the time to go through the entries and vote.

In addition, the neighborhood pulled off a successful socially distanced Halloween, with participants using tables and goody bags strategically played in their yards, and even candy shoots, to distribute treats to thankful trick-or-treaters.  In the strangest of times; it was a loveliest of evenings.  Thank you to those who made the holiday safe and memorable!

The NFCCA Halloween Working Group, which began meeting in August to work out logistics for what a socially distanced Halloween would look like, helped provide guidelines for trick-or-treaters and treat-givers, as well as brainstormed and ran the two contests.  Members included:  Sharon Canavan, Jennifer Cox, Miranda Hovemeyer, S. Xiah Kragie, Jen Larsen, Emily Schifrin, and Kate Waybright.  The group is collecting lessons-learned and looking to coordinate activities again for next year.  Please email NFCCAHalloween at gmail dot com to volunteer or share your suggestions.

Gift cards and signs were made available by the NFCCA Board through neighborhood dues.  If you would like to support events like this in the future, consider submitting your dues through the NFCCA website on the “Join Us” link.  Dues are $10 per household.

[This article was truncated in the printed newsletter.  Photos of other contestants are not shown because attribution could not be ascertained.]   ■