Anyone who knows us, knows that we are REALLY INTO Halloween. We've become local celebrities in the last couple years, starting with just a graveyard on the front lawn.
My husband is an actor in local theatre, and a few years ago I (kinda) jokingly suggested we make a sortof "costume" for the house, using basically "stage flats". So just for kicks and giggles, we talked to a friend of ours who designs sets for a local theatre, and she came to our house, got measurements, and custom-designed a facade for our house. 2 years later (last year), we decided to actually give it a go.
If I had known how long it was really going to take, I never would have started it...I figured we'd get a few friends over for a weekend, build it one day, paint it the next...wrong! Six weeks later, just one week before Halloween, we were still finishing up the last of the painting. A few friends came over for a "castle raising" and voila! The Egan Castle was created.
It caused quite a stir during the six weeks it took us to build, neighbors dropping by to check on our progress and cheer us on, cars driving by and slowing down, cell phones whipping out to call friends, etc. Seeing the excitement from the neighbors helped motivate us to keep going.
On Halloween day, the local news station sent someone over to get footage and interview us, and we made the evening news. A couple radio stations talked about it as well. That night, we easily had 500-600 people, probably more, come to our door. Crowds gathered in the street, sometimes applauding, and many parents said "thank you sooo much for doing this!".
Making people smile, especially kids, makes ME smile, and all the work was worth it!
THIS YEAR:
Now that the castle was built, we could do more specific themes. About 6 months ago, my husband Bill suggested Harry Potter's Hogwarts, so I immediately started a list of ideas, and started buying things early, to spread out the cost. Our good friend Leslie volunteered to help with decorations this year, and she made some really amazing contributions. We could not have pulled this off without her.
Having help from someone who was just as excited as we were, gave us the freedom to be more creative, more detailed, and between the three of us, we decorated the inside of the house, and recruited 8 other friends to come dressed as Harry Potter characters on Halloween night.
Halloween morning, we did a radio interview on K-LITE with Gary and Katherine, and we heard from friends later that most of the other local radio stations also talked about Hogwarts, and even the local SB Independent newspaper. Our "cast" showed up about 6pm, and kids started coming in trickles and we would take turns giving little tours through Hogwarts.
The moment it got dark, the guided tours very quickly turned into a solid mass of people flowing through the house, with a line around the corner, for 2 1/2 hours straight!
We quickly adjusted to this, and we all picked a spot outside or inside, and I monitored the flow, at the front door. People waited in line from 10-20 minutes, and a lot of people came through multiple times. It was great to see so many people having so much fun, including our cast!
"Harry" and "Ron" were inside, often playing wizard's chess and joking with kids and adults, and getting their pictures taken. "Delores Umbridge" and "Hagrid" were also inside, pointing out the interesting things to see, and having fun with everyone. "Madame Rosmerta" took care of passing out the candy and toys, while "Dumbledore", "Luna Lovegood", "Nymphadora Tonks", and "Snape" stayed outside in front, interacting with the waiting crowd.
The next morning, I got out the calculator, and estimated based on average flow, and in 2 1/2 hours, we easily had between 1000-1200 people come to visit "Hogwarts". WOW!
How will we top this next year?
Oh we will....!
This has now taken on a life of it's own, more people want to help next year, and we've been talked into putting up a
website.
Ideas for next year's theme are already in the works...but it will be kept a secret until late next year....
