For as long as I can remember as a kid, I wanted to be Dracula for my Halloween costume. Now my current adult choice of attire for the special day during harvest season appeals to childhood memories & my wallet at the same time!Growing up in a conservative home, I was introduced to a cool, moral-based Saturday morning cartoon by the name of Davey & Goliath. Little did I know that this stop-motion TV series was created by Art Clokey, a claymation pioneer who worked with the Lutheran Church to produce the series in 1959. Four years earlier, Art's most popular creation came to life on NBC's Howdy Doody Show. After 234 episodes spanning more than 50 years, Gumby is a true American television icon- and has been my Halloween costume for the last few years :)

During the day this past Friday, we participated in a costume contest at the radio studios. Considering I wore my full body suit all-day and even in studio on-air, I was unable to crack the top 3 in our competition. Hey, it's no easy task to upset fellow nostalgia costume of  Laverne & Shirley!

Friday night was shaping up to be another close-but-no-cigar costume effort at Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill down in The Cities, as I assumed many home-made and creative costumes trying to win the $500 top prize. I was repeatedly asked to snap photos with various other costumes including Flintstones, Minions, pirates, and many more which wasn't new for such a classic getup. On the stage, Maiden Dixie gave my costume a few shout-outs and much to my surprise, the bar manager brought me on-stage for the costume contest! Among an authentic Darth Vader, the Golden Girls, the Hanson Brothers from the movie Slapshot, and others- I won a $ consolation prize! It was a rather tall task to win 1st prize against a mouse caught in a life-size mousetrap costume along with her big cheering section.

But the prize win along with a few others in years past has more than paid-off my $40 costume- purchased online in 2011! I'm pretty sure I'm already set for next year, now I need to find someone to be my Pokey...

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