Northwood News ♦ October 2021

Second Annual NFCCA Halloween With a Little Distance, a Lot of Fun!

Last year Halloween was “not normal” — more houses than ever were decorated, neighbors visited outside together all evening, and we hosted the most festively dressed pets on Facebook. Also, we stayed safe and distanced during a raging pandemic.

Let’s do that again!

A ‘socially distant’ candy chute from 2020 brings joy to both giver and receiver. A little frivolity was just what we needed!

The neighborhood work group got back together to improve last years’ successful plan to give the kids (and young-at-heart) in our community a fun and socially distant Halloween experience.

Front Yard Trick-or-Treating

Join in the fun for contactless trick-or-treating from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.! In addition to following Montgomery County guidance on masking and social distancing (www.montgomerycountymd.gov/COVID19), we encourage taking the following actions on Halloween night, Sunday, 31 October:

Be Present. Grab your lawn chairs (and masks) and come outside for front-yard trick-or-treating. Turn on exterior lights to show your participation; door-knocking is discouraged.
Be Socially Distant. Consider ways to safely share treats without contact. Spread candy out on a table or, if you’d normally give out a handful, prepare individual bags of treats in a box so kids can safely grab one and go. Be creative and safe!
Be Festive. Get into the holiday spirit with music, costumes, or decorations. Dress up your face mask and have fun!

An NFCCA representative delivers a house-decorating prize (yes, there are prizes!) and winning sign. Tour the neighborhood to see this year’s winners the first week of November.

For those who wish to add your address to the neighborhood list of households giving out treats (including allergy-safe treats), please use the online form at www.nfcca.org/halloween.html that will automatically update a neighborhood map also available on that webpage.

In the event of severe weather, the rain date for this activity will be Monday, 1st of November.

Community Halloween Contests

To get us all in the Halloween spirit, NFCCA is sponsoring two contests with prizes for residents of the NFCCA community. Winners of the contests will be posted to the public NFCCA Facebook page at www.facebook.com/nfccaMoCo, shared on the NFCCA listserv, and featured in the December issue of the Northwood News.

Halloween Decorating Contest. For those with seasonal decorating skills, email a single photo or photo collage of your home, being sure to include your address to NFC CAHalloween at gmail dot com by Monday, 25 October. We encourage everyone to get out and see the entries in person if you can! Winners will be awarded in five categories:
- Spookiest
- Most Creative
- Fall Festival
- Kid’s Choice
- Best Jack-o-Lantern (only Jack-o-Lantern is judged)
If you or your child would like to volunteer as a judge, please email your names and ages of kids to NFCCAHalloween at gmail dot com before Monday, 25 October 2021. Multiple judges from the same household are okay so long as they are judging separately.

This homemade candy chute made last year’s Halloween even more fun for all participants. We were all glad to get outside!
Pet Costume Contest. For the proud pet parents, dress up your pet in costume and have them smile for the camera! There are two ways to enter: post a photo of your pet to the NFCCA Facebook page at www.facebook.com/nfccaMoCo, or email a photo of your pet to NFCCAHalloween at gmail dot com to be posted for you. The three photos with the most “reactions” on Facebook by Halloween night will be the winners (only one winner per household).

Go to the NFCCA website at www.nfcca.org/halloween.html for further information.

We look forward to celebrating with everyone. Be safe and have fun! ■