Have a Very Happy Halloween

There are several Halloween happenings at the County Friday: a costume contest, menu specials at the COC and CAC cafeterias, and a Hollywood-inspired party at the COC. Here are the details for having a howling good time.

Costume Contest

Rules and tips for entering the costume contest as an individual or group:

• Send one photo of yourself in costume to communications@sdcounty.ca.gov by 4 p.m., Oct. 30. Do not send multiple photos. Submitting just one photo promotes contest fairness.

• Include your full name, title, department and who (or what) you are dressed as in the body of the email. Please type the information in rather than use your signature block.

• One entry per employee. This means you can only enter the contest once. You can enter as an individual or as a group—but not both.

• If you enter as an individual, be the only person in the photo—we want to make sure we know who you are.

• If you enter as a group, have just one person submit the photo.

Come back to InSite on Monday to vote for your favorite among the five costume finalists selected by the Halloween party planning committee and to see highlights from the Hollyweird Halloween party at the COC.

Hollyweird Halloween Party

Join the spirited celebration at the COC from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. This is not your average Halloween gathering. It is a Hollywood-themed bash with one wickedly weird twist—it’s a Hollyweird Halloween party. It’s where werewolves and vampires brush elbows with icons like Marilyn Monroe, modern day pirates like Johnny Depp, fictional favorites like Hans Solo and classic cartoon characters like Betty Boop.

Activities include:

• Walk the red carpet and snap a scary selfie—a “Scarefie.”

• Hunt for County stars along the “Hollywood Walk of Fame.”

• Attend an open “casting call” for scream queens. Let out a bloodcurdling shriek at the Scream-O-Rama contest.

• Cheer on the Lip Sync-Off performers. Talented teams will bewitch us with their style, lip sync ability and dramatic performance! The tournament-style event starts at 12:15 p.m. The top team will win the Best Performance Oscare.

• Have guts? Try your hand at Mystery Boxes. Participants will place their hand into a dark box filled with props to guess which one is braiiiiiins, eyeballs, ears, bones and other creepy crawlies.

• Shake your hips like Elvis, Shakira or Taylor Swift. In Shake It Off, contestants will attempt to remove ping pong balls from a box attached to their waists without the use of their hands.

• Employees will be asked Halloween trivia in Trick or Treat and rewarded with a sweet for a correct answer or tasked with a devilish challenge for the wrong.

• Try your arm at Pumpkin Bowling. For each strike, bowlers earn a raffle ticket in an opportunity drawing for Halloween movies. (Bowlers can earn up to five raffle tickets.)

Halloween Trivia: How Well Do you Know this Spooky and Kooky Holiday?

Whether you are a frenzied fanatic of Halloween or are just into it for the candy, a thrilling and chilling celebration is coming to a workplace near you. And there are two wonderful ways to have a wickedly good time on Friday—we recommend both!

The County-wide costume contest will commence on Friday. Entering is as easy as pumpkin pie. Simply email a single photo of yourself dressed up. Full details on how to enter will be posted on InSite the day of the festival affair. Hold onto your hats until then!

In addition, the County will roll out the red carpet for a Hollyweird Halloween partyat the COC. Employees can stop by 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 30 for a cornucopia of tricks and treats, including pumpkin bowling, a scream-o-rama contest and the highly anticipated Lip Sync-Off.

In the meantime, we have tantalizing trivia to tide you over to the big day! Take a piece of scrap paper and write down your answers. At the end, we’ll have an answer key. Find out how sweet you are on all things Halloween. Are you Smarties or Dum Dums? Tell us how well you did in the comment section below.

1. What is the fear of Halloween called?

a. Samhainophobia

b. Arachnophobia

c. Triskaidekaphobia

d. Nyctophobia

e. Hemophobia

2. From the base to the point, what is the color order on a piece of candy corn?

a. Orange, yellow, white

b. Yellow, orange, white

c. White, yellow, orange

d. Orange, white, yellow

3. The first Jack-o-Lanterns were made out of what?

a. Pumpkins

b. Watermelons

c. Turnips

d. Cantaloupe

e. Coconuts

4. Who wrote the spooky tale, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow?

a. Edgar Allan Poe

b. Stephen King

c. Ichabod Crane

d. Mary Shelley

e. Washington Irving

5. Who is the deadliest horror movie villain?

a. Michael Myers

b. Leprechaun

c. Freddy Kreuger

d. Chucky

e. Leatherface

6. According to legend, how do you kill a werewolf?

a. Holy water

b. Silver bullet

c. Wooden stake

d. Lasers

e. Garlic

7. Which is not a real band?

a. Smashing Pumpkins

b. Jack Skellington

c. Vampire Weekend

d. Rocket from the Crypt

e. The Zombies

8. Why did the ancient Celts begin the tradition of wearing masks and costumes on Halloween?

a. To honor the dead

b. To trick the dead

c. To trick neighbors

d. For fun

9. According to superstition, a person born on Halloween has what particular ability?

a. They can predict the future

b. They can talk to spirits

c. They can talk to animals

d. They love all Halloween candy

e. They can fly

10. In "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown," what does Charlie get while trick or treating?

a. Chocolate

b. Rocks

c. Toothbrush

d. Popcorn ball

e. Eraser

11. Which country celebratesDía de los Muertos?

a. Ireland

b. Turkey

c. Mexico

d. Japan

e. Haiti

12. Halloween the movie came out in what year?

a. 1968

b. 1973

c. 1978

d. 1980

e. 1982

13. To be safe while trick or treating after dark, you should carry which of the following item?

a. Coffee

b. Candy

c. A flashlight

d. A mask

e. A bucket

Answer Key:

1) A.  2) B.  3) C.  4) E.  5) A.  6) B.  7) B.  8) B.  9) B.  10) B.  11) C.  12) C.  13) C.

Read My Lips: Lip Sync Contestants Announced

via GIPHY

Several County Employees have gotten in sync for a creepily cool contest. Eight teams were selected to compete in a Lip Sync-Off at the Hollyweird Halloween party at the County Operations Center on Oct. 30.

The teams set to have a howling good time vying for the Best Performance “Oscare” are:

• Human Resources: Aaron Morgan, Miezelle Espinoza, Emily Fick

• Finance & General Government Group: Tracy Sandoval, Ebony Shelton, Joan Pan, Michelle Crichlow, Rachel Witt

• General Services: Angie Solom, Kimberly Martindale-Leal, Maria Smith, Khris Gimeno

• County of San Diego Filipino‐American Employees Association: Ardee Apostol, Mavette Sadile, Vanessa Cabiling, Rizza Rodriguez

• Registrar of Voters: Pamela Jordan, Laura Kelly, George Blessing, Shannon Bowman, Mireya Lara, Vicki Starke, Gabriela Gladswell, Monica Garcia

• Purchasing & Contracting: Shelly Castle, Vianney Aldana, Lucie Dela Cruz

The tournament will start at 12:15 p.m. near the Commons. Come out to cheer on your favorite group. Winners will be selected by audience applause.

The Lip Sync-Off is just one of the many Halloween activities planned for Oct. 30. See the spooktacular list of events here. And if you don’t have a costume planned out, here are tips for putting together a great look.

5 Halloween Costume Tips and 1 Party Preview

The witching hour is almost upon us! Mark Oct. 30 on your calendar for thrilling and chilling festivities at the Hollyweird Halloween party and a creepy costume contest.

The best part – employees near and far can enter the contest, and we’ve got tips to help you put together your ghoulish garb. County employees can show off their costumes in person Oct. 30 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the COC. And you can enter the contest on the same day by emailing a photo of your cute, comical or creepy creation. (Details will be posted to InSite on the day of the big bash.) Employees will then vote for the “best in show” on Monday, Nov. 2.

With just one week to plan your outfit, where do you start? Luckily, one County employee has tips for creating wonderfully whimsical, startlingly scary or coolly clever costumes.

Roberta Hussey Nichols, office manager with the Multiple Conflicts Office, has an impressive resume as a costume creator. She’s a member of the San Diego Costume Guild and has donned her ornate outfits at events for the San Diego Symphony, San Diego History Center and the USS Midway. Some of her more memorable guises have been dressing as Cinderella at the San Diego Library and in a procession for Día de los Muertos in Old Town.

Roberta Hussey Nichols and her husband at a Día de los Muertos event in Old Town San Diego.

“It is fun to become that character. It is fun to come out of your own skin,” said Nichols, who claims Halloween is one of her favorite holidays.

Of course, the first step in fashioning a costume fit for a stunning superhero, marvelous mummy or wonderfully wicked witch is coming up with the idea. The creative process does not need to be a nightmarish feat. Nichols said employees can draw inspiration from anywhere – books, movies, comics, video games, historical figures, sports heroes and political figures are fair fodder.

Roberta dressed as Queen Regina from ABC's "Once Upon a Time."

The options for finding costume materials are also endless—from online to your local hardware store, swap meet and even your own closet. She said an idea can come from just one item, such as bell-bottom jeans to be a hippie or blue overalls to be a Minion.

Here are 5 tips so simple that they are almost spooky:

1. Start planning as early as you can. A week is plenty of time to make your costume fabulous.

2. Be comfortable. Wear comfy shoes if you can.

3. Try to act/be your character. What would they do or say? Do they have a certain walk or way of doing something? If it’s a character from a movie or TV, try to repeat something recognizable they said. Think of John Wayne’s walk, a zombie dragging one leg or Buzz Lightyear’s tag line, “To infinity and beyond!”

4. Props and accessories are key—what would Indiana Jones be without his hat? They also give you something to hold on to or pose with for photos.

5. Finally, have fun making and wearing your costume.

Now that you’ve picked the perfect costume, find out more about the other Halloween activities including a Lip Sync-Off, pumpkin bowling, scream-o-rama contest and other tricks and treats! Read more here. Don’t miss out on the fun – we’re dying to see you!

Mouth Off in Lip Sync Contest

Get ready for an epic lip sync-off! A contest similar to Jimmy Fallon’s wildly popular segment on “The Tonight Show” is coming to the County and now’s the time to enter as a contestant. The sensational showdown will take place at the County’s Hollyweird festivities later this month.

Individuals and groups interested in vying for the Best Performance “Oscare” in the Lip Sync-Off can email jessie.bishop@sdcounty.ca.gov by 4 p.m., Oct. 22. The email should include your name and the song you plan to perform.  Short “audition” videos like CAO Staff Officer Royce Abalos’ rendition of “Old Time Rock n Roll” are encouraged. Costume and song choices for the day of the event must be appropriate for work.

From the submissions, 10 nominees will be selected to wow us their lip sync skills, style and performance.

The tournament will start at 12:15 p.m., Oct. 30 at the COC. Come out to cheer on your favorite contender. Winners will be selected by the audience. Look for the stage on the Commons lawn.

The Lip Sync-Off is just one of the many Halloween activities planned for Oct. 30. See the frighteningly full list of fall fun.

Beware! Halloween Is Coming to the County

Winners of the Scariest Costume Contest at the Haunted Plaza at the COC in 2014.

Get ready for an eerie and cheery time. The County is hosting an amazing amount of Halloween happenings from now through Oct. 30.

Masters of Disguise: This year theCostume Contestfor employees is Countywide. Entry into the contest is simple—don your Halloween best at work on Oct. 30 and submit a single photo of yourself in costume to communications@sdcounty.ca.gov by 4 p.m., Oct. 30. Be sure to include your name, title, department and who you are dressed up as. Tips: Submit a photo that shows your entire outfit. Be the only person in the photo—we want to know who you are! And on Monday,Dia de los Muertos, County employees will vote on Insite for the top costume from five finalists.

Yummy Mummies: Frighteningly delicious Halloween Menu Specials will be served at the CAC and COC cafeterias on Oct. 30. Kitchen staff have wiped the cobwebs off of the cauldron and are currently brewing up some mouthwatering recipes to delight and entice. Check the menu boards later this month.

Hollyweird: The County will roll out the red carpet for a Halloween party at the COC Oct. 30. This is not your average Halloween gathering. It is a Hollywood-themed bash with one wickedly weird twist—it’s a Hollyweird Halloween party. It’s where werewolves and vampires brush elbows with icons like Marilyn Monroe, modern day pirates like Johnny Depp, fictional favorites like Hans Solo and classic cartoon characters like Betty Boop. Look for the Hollyweird sign outside the Commons and join the fangtastic festivities scheduled from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

• Stroll down “Hollywood Boulevard” to meet celebrity look-a-likes and snap a scarefie with the celebs.

• Hunt for stars along the “Hollywood Walk of Fame.”

• Attend an open “casting call” for scream queens. Show off your vivacious vocal chords at the Scream-O-Ramacontest.

• Be nominated for the coveted Best Performance Oscare by competing in theLip Sync-Off. A total of 10 nominees will bewitch us with their style, lip sync ability and dramatic performance! The tournament-style event will start at the witching hour (12:15 p.m.). Come out to cheer on your favorite contender. Interested competitors can “audition” by sending a 30-second lip sync video clip to Jessie.bishop@sdcounty.ca.gov by 4 p.m., Oct. 15. The email should include your name or team (if applicable) and the song title you plan to perform. Costume and song choices must be work appropriate. The 10 nominees for the Best Performance Oscare will be announced on InSite prior to the big bash.

• The peculiar contents of several macabreMystery Boxes could be straight off of a Hollywood movie set! Bravely place your hand into the box to guess which one is braiiiiiins, eyeballs, ears, bones and other creepy crawlies.

• Move over Elvis and Shakira! County employees will have a chance to shake their hips to Taylor Swift’s most recent anthem. In Shake It Off, contestants will attempt to remove ping pong balls from a box attached to their waists without the use of their hands. (This sounds way easier than it actually is!)

• Dare to embark on the Trick or Treat Scavenger Hunt. Tasks include devilish challenges and hair-raising dares.

• If you strike out during the Trick or Treat Scavenger Hunt, try your arm in Pumpkin Bowling

Start planning your costume and watch for next week’s tips. Let the games begin!