Halloween partying has already started in the Grove

Halloween started early on Fuller Street last night for Barracuda's Great Pumpkin Carving Contest. The heavy rains kept the crowds away until late, but eventually, the street was buzzing. Unfortunately, only two pumpkins were entered into the contest! Here they are, Stephen Colbert at left and Dracula.


Families cames out and enjoyed the festivities -- like the Flintstones, including Dino. At right, Skip Sanders with Matt Heiger. Skip was emcee for the night and Matt, along with his partner, Brian Davis, owners the Barracuda Bar, threw the party on Fuller Street.


The three judges for the contests were Robby Parks, Monty Trainer and Frank Zito, who has been with Barracuda for almost 15 years.


The Robby Hunter Band played from early on and well into the evening. By the end of the night people were up on the stage dancing.


They serenaded the two pumpkins for a large part of the night. Fuller Street is a perfect venue for block parties, the next one will be Snow Days coming up in December.


Zulu and Nola won first place in the pet costume contest. They paraded in front of the judges, up on the stage and the judges made their choice out of the many pets who did appear (there were more pets in costumes than carved pumpkins).


Marlito, as a chicken, came in second place. Many of us in the crowd thought Marlito would come in first place.


And Tebo came in third place, as one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Is he Leonardo or Raphael?


Back to the pumpkins -- Dana Weber at left, won first place and Gil Soto won second, for their creative work. Third place went by the wayside since there was not a third pumpkin to be awarded! Not sure what happened to all the community spirit in the Grove, hopefully it will be here tonight and tomorrow for the rest of the Halloween weekend.


It ended up being a very fun night. People heard the music and stopped by even if they hadn't known about the block party earlier. It was a great way to catch up with friends. We had beer, wine and lots of chicken fingers and fries before we ended up at Calamari for a late dinner and then after that, we came back to Fuller Street and partied more, well into the night. We won at Beer Pong, too!