Halloween 2009

Enough of my Presbyterian Church Research Services colleagues dressed up for Halloween (above) that we entered the Presbyterian Center Halloween contest. We did not win. Our former colleague Jamie stopped by with her husband and two of their daughters (below).

Grandma (still our colleague at the Center Linda) helped get one of the daughters ready for the costume competition (they didn't win either).

Below was the child winner (about to let exhaustion and the nerves from the competition get the best of her) and her mother.

The night before Halloween Vincent got back from work - he ended up working some 10 days in a row.

While Vincent worked and then went to a Halloween party, Halloween night our friend Sarah came over for dinner and then we wandered over to Hillcrest Avenue - Louisville's legendary Halloween street, just a block from our church. One of the first houses whose decor I noticed included an impromptu disco, with some great music and passersbyb getting up in the front yard suddenly to dance (below).

We wondered why they didn't shut down the street to cars - and in fact later that evcening a car hit a kid - but if it were closed off no one would have been able to cruise in their car - like Elvis who we had just missed in Las Vegas - who cruised by with two friends in a pink Cadillac.

Sarah and Stephanie were very good at looking carefully at the witticisms in the front yards of some of the decorated houses (in between other somewhat tasteless or grotesque items). With thousands walking up and down the street, there were plenty of people watching possibilities too.

One place we stopped was in front of a house that turned out to be owned by a University of Louisville trumpet professor - with his brass quintet playing. While we were there, they shifted from classical music to the "Ghostbusters" movie - and then, seconds later, the Ghostbusters unit dropped by - and danced to their own theme music.

Another house featured a Peanuts theme, including Linus and Sally waiting for the Great Pumpkin.

When we arrived at home, the full moon shone out.

Stephanie had gotten a turtle outfit for Frisco. But Frisco was pretty quick to doff the hat/turtle head. Here he's still got the body on. We've taken him to Hillcrest before but it's so packed we left him home. We dressed him up briefly after we got home. Vincent had planned to go trick or treating with Jessi and friends but ended up working from mid-afternoon to 9:15 p.m. - selling Halloween costumes up to the bitter end - and then went to a party with Jessi and friends. Sarah went home and - other than picking Vincent up later - we stayed home with Frisco.

-- Perry