Monday, October 29, 2007

Lamont Street Halloween Party

Yes, get ready for that once-yearly chance to give away vastly overpriced pieces of candy and other Halloween accoutrement to (possibly) costumed youngsters. Its the Lamont Street Halloween Party! Organized by a few local individuals who live on the block, the party draws hundreds of kids from all over DC each Halloween. Most of the homes on the block (1700 block) oblige and have at least some candy for the taking. Last year we joined a group effort at a friend's place and gave away over 1,500 pieces of candy. No kidding. I counted.

Most of the kids make several circuits, and before you know it somehow you're out of $25 worth of Jolly Ranchers and kind of sad because, at least for tonight, you've contributed to the childhood obesity epidemic. In the end though, its all fun and games. Pretty princesses and burly ballplayers bump around with kids who've improvised costumes using trash bags and a sense of humor. The parents never trail far behind, and many carry their own bags and trick-or-treat with the really young ones in tow. We don't mind the kids coming from other parts of the city either, its their party too! Nice to have a safe space for this kind of thing in this day and age. Spoiler alert!!! Word on the street is that a famous son of Mt Pleasant who's now a very important government official in DC will be making an appearance at the festival. You heard it here first! Unless he doesn't come, then, well, hmm. Yeah. Never believe the rumors on the internets.

The block is closed for traffic beginning at 4:00PM, so have those cars moved. The costume contest starts at 8:00PM near the top of the block. If you are local please stick around and help the clean up process.

For those partying elsewhere, please don't drink and drive. Use SoberRide. They can be reached at 1-800-200-TAXI, and the service is FREE.