Happy Halloween - it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

We got snow this week - Crazy!  Hope you're ready for your trick or treaters.  I think the snow might keep all 25 of mine home!

Miniature Pumpkin Village at Glow

Being a glutton for anything small, I found this little pumpkin village at Glow just charming.  Look at the detail in this thing.

Emma Crawford Winners

I have the judged results from the 25th Annual Emma Crawford Coffin Races

Best Entourage
Team "Toy Soldiers"

Best Coffin
Team 18 - the Border Burger Bar's "Day of the Dead"

Best Emma
Team 53 - The Green Fairy Flies Again
It's all about the absinthe baby.

Large Pumpkin Sculptures at Glow

In addition to small carved pumpkins, the glow team also put together some large sculptures on frames covered in, you guessed it, real pumpkins.  They were very cool.

A family of enthusiastic Mummys

Pumpkin Zombie

Fighting Scorpions

The Last of the Skeletons

I have the last of the skeletons to show you.  I braved the Emma Crawford Coffin race drunks Sat. night to finish up my after dark pictures. Below is Manitou Brew Companies Officer Naughty.

                               

The Colorado Custard Company's Captain Custard has won peoples choice 2 years in a row and is on track to win again.  Matt Carpenter really hustles the votes from everyone who buys a custard.  This year he's put the good captain on his scooter.

The Loop paid homage to their owner.  I have never met this guy but they used a real bucky skeleton which is a nice touch.

I think Kinfolks needs a special mention for the least amount of effort.

Common wheel artist co-op has used this skeleton 3 years in a row.  Perhaps next year, they will try something new.  They are an artists co-op after all - lots of creative talent there.

Cherokees of Manitou has a couple sitting outside in the planters. Every time I pass here, they are doing something new.

 

Brazen Bee put up this cute bee lady and her rat.

The Vault presents Bone-ita, a retired and expired manager.  She's really hitting the bottle.

The Olive Tap dressed this chef.

Ruxton's Trading Post has this hiker in the window along with his dog.  They are cute but not really in the running for prizes.  I should know - I am judging.

Race Results

Yesterday was the running of the 25th Annual Emma Crawford Coffin Races here in Manitou Springs, Colorado.  It brought a lot of changes - some good, some not so good.

The new sound system meant all could hear the commentary clearly.  That has been a problem in the past.  However, some of it is quite inane so hmmm - maybe we were better off not listening?

The city of Manitou, in their infinite hippy wisdom, got around to repairing?? the north side of the street on Friday, Oct. 25.  Those "repairs" led to an unsafe surface for the coffin teams. Thus, this year, for the first time, each team ran alone.  Unfortunately, nobody was informed, leading me to choose the side the teams ran on. I did not get pictures of the actual race because of the close proximity.  And it took twice as long making for a really exhausting day.  I hope they do not keep this format into the future.

It did seem more organized with more sponsors, businesses and volunteers.  With all baggage on the table, lets look at a few snapshots of the day.

Here's a view of his Lordship, myself, the Son of Nell and Baby M. before the races.

I made a new friend

The coffin parade had the usual hearses.  Who you gonna call?

Coffin Leigh dressed as your favorite fast food restaurants.  Isn't Wendy precious?

Awesome parade participants

Here's the entourage for Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure

Team Decomposers - can you guess why they have this name?

And the winners of the 25th Annual Emma Crawford Coffin Race are:

Scooby and the Gang - 25.1 Adams Mountain Cafe

Daphne and Velma really brought it yesterday!

APES Together Strong - 25.8

Men in Black - 26.7

I love that little French Bulldog on the front of their coffin

When I get the judged results for best emma, best coffin and best entourage, I will post. Until then I hope you enjoyed the races Dahhling.

Off to the Races!

Today is the 25th Annual Emma Crawford Coffin Race through Manitou Springs and naturally Lord and Lady M are attending dahling.

This year there is a live broadcast of the races.  So if you have nothing better to do today, watch along with me.  The parade starts at noon and the races at 1 pm mountain time.

Toodles - I am going down early to secure my seating on the race course.

Pumpkin Artist at Glow

His Lordship and I got to watch 2 artists create incredible pumpkin art at Glow.  I believe the woman's name is Giselle Poserio and the gents name is Willy Tuz.  They are both professional fruit carvers.

Pumpkin Heads in Jars

Of course it would not be Halloween without some heads floating in jars. At Glow, artists carved these from pumpkins.  They are preserved in vinegar, dramatically lit and placed along a wall.  I apologize for the picture quality.  I was being rushed by the hoards.