Halloween 2011 -- Conclusion

(Continued from Halloween 2011)

Halloween 2011 began a month before Halloween 2010 on board the Carnival ship Fascination while Donna and I were sailing to the Bahamas on a Godby High School alumni cruise on the evening that the ship's captain greeted the guests. After dinner, Captain Placido Tumminello appeared at the top of the spiral stairway amid-ship and said, "Hello, Captain," to me, and then addressed the rest of the guests.

My firefighter costume was already complete, and I would win eight costume contests with it only weeks later after the cruise, but at that moment, I knew what I was going to do for Halloween next year.

For the first time, I built a Halloween costume around a hat -- the many reincarnations of Captain's hats I have been wearing ever since I discovered I was balding in a hot shower after a bright sunny afternoon of vigorous volleyball at the 1992 Tallahassee Community College Field Day.

I was making sketches by Halloween last year. I prefer to use graph paper, four rectangles to the inch, which permits me to use an inch of paper scaled to a foot and still usually keep my plan on a single sheet of paper. I utilized the same set of wheels and accompanying seat that I had for my fire truck costume last year.

I began to lay the keel in January, while also constructing the captain's wheel, anchor, life savers and life boats. I framed it using pine lumber no larger than two inches by two inches by a couple of feet. I paid special attention to the trigonometry that allowed me to construct the prow, as I needed two different acute angles for top and bottom. I employed rudimentary calculus to maximize the bow's prominence while reducing its marginal footprint. I carved portholes and built an "Aft Lounge" with roulette table. With full sheet ink jet printer decals, I christened her Pride of the Seas, "Tallahassee's Official Party Boat".

It was my most liberating costume and I danced for many hours more than I have before on Halloween. I didn't notice the time passing and took my time to enjoy every party. Many of the people I met impressed me. Some remembered me from many years earlier; one remembered my first cat Elliott, and another remembered being my neighbor more than twenty years ago. I ran into Dave the Cat's veterinarian Dr. Hall and his family. Our other cats and dogs still visit him. Others didn't know me personally, but they either remembered meeting me wearing different costumes years ago, or they recognized my style of work, saying, "Didn't you also build a 'Lighthouse', 'Pinball Machine', 'Spongebob Squarepants', etc?"   

It was a career year for me. I won prizes at ten costume contests, eight of which were first place victories. I enjoyed two Honorable Mentions, at Southwood, and from the Tallahassee Roller Girls at their website. I won a nice second place prize to "Blue Avatar" at Pockets Pool. I won at El Jalisco at North Monroe Street and hung out with Peter. I won Florida State University's Geek Night 6.0 and met some fun people playing trivia and board games that night. I won Havana's PumpkinFest costume contest. I won the 11th annual Witch's Ball, which I had never won before. I won the Crypt Keeper's Ball, hosted by the people who do the Terror on 12 Haunted House every year. I won the Tallahassee Swing Band costume contest and especially relished being one of the youngest guests. I had a double win on Halloween Day, at the 7th annual Salter Mitchell Chili Cook-off and Costume Contest, and the Midtown Candy Crawl and Monster March at Lake Ella in the evening, where I won an immense floral arrangement from Blossoms Flowers.

I love Halloween, and had the time of my life.

Receiving "Best Costume" award from April Salter at the 7th Annual Salter Mitchell Chili Cook-off and Costume Contest, October 31, 2011

Photo by Colin Hackley

At the Midtown Candy Crawl and Monster March at Lake Ella, October 31, 2011

Photo by passer-by

 

Grand Prize from Lake Ella, courtesy of Blossoms Flowers