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2010 Halloween Party - Pre-party Setup
I usually start working on the party about a month or so in advance. This is how the inside of the pavilion looked on September 22, 2010, as I started cleaning it up in preparation for the Halloween party. |
I found a lot of bees and wasps in the pavilion in the spring of 2010 and chased them all off. This spider (the largest I have ever seen around here!) had taken up refuge in the hay bales. I left him be until a week before the party when I captured him and relocated him down the hill in a hollow of a large tree. |
Dinero, seen here, was assisting me as we built something for the party. |
Here I am making a last minute sign the day of the party. My cousin Carrie took this picture. |
One of my new ideas this year was to do a UFO crash site and alien autopsy room. Me and Dinero kicked around several ideas before I settled on a triangular craft covered with a tarp. I also special ordered most of the signs you see. |
A closeup of the supposed alien craft covered with the tarp. Me and Dinero worked hard on this bad boy and were very pleased with the outcome. We had flashing lights and a fog machine underneath it and at night it was quite a sight. |
These are the aliens I made for the alien autopsy room. For the base/skeleton I made one out a plastic skeleton and other from leftover skeleton parts, PVC scraps, and cardboard. I then used Great Stuff insulation foam to make the “skin’ and after drying painted them neon green. |
Inside view of the completed alien autopsy room the day of the party. |
A closeup of one of the aliens on the plastic-covered operating table. I was very pleased with the outcome! |
I literally threw his idea together the day of the party – and its one of the best things I ever made. I tied his skeleton backwards on a spit, sprayed with insulation foam to simulate melting skin, and spray painted it red and brown. With a simulated fire below it was an amazing sight at night! |
Another view of the "body on the spit" prop. |
The old standby – the animated Jason. As always he works fine all day and then once
the party starts the sensor acts up. Jason, I love you but you are a pain in the ass.
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I built this massive wooden coffin with Jeff Kuhrnet last year and placed in a coffin-lowering harness I built a few years ago. It looks nice in the cemetery. |
I had the butcher shop the previous year, but this time I added the actual butcher. He was built at the last minute on an oscillating fan, and when rotating back and forth looked great. Of course the fan could not support the weight for long and I had to turn it off. He still looked fantastic I thought. Next year he will rotate though! |
Who can resist a juicy “hand sandwich” and assorted other goodies?? This is the part of the butcher shop as its being assembled the day before the party. |
Who says me and my cousin Billy can’t get the girls?? |
Billy adds a realistic element to the cemetery. |
Ella checks out the coffin a few hours before the party starts. |
Todd, myself (crutching on left), and Dinero (in background) work on last minute details. |
Bob Muse, at age 87, gets himself a stiff drink before the party. Bob cooks all the awesome chicken for the party and is a huge help. |
At 6:30pm – and one hour to the party – I get the chips ready. You can see the main fire burning in the background. |
A few hours before the party John and Ryan stand around while I work in the background. Thanks guys! Just kidding, they came early and were a big help this year. |
The path is all set the day of the party. |
Ella shows off the world’s smallest Halloween mask – or is it a piece of candy. |
A month of hard work and the party is two hours away. The quiet before the storm. |
A last minute check of the lighting above the alcohol table. |
 Todd sets up the sterno burners awaiting the arrival of the chicken, which Bob Muse cooks elsewhere and brings to the party. |