We know many of you are most excited about the Costume Couture Fashion Showdown — and well you should! This is what’s going to set  our Columbus Halloween celebration apart from all other cities’ celebrations. As you know Columbus is one of THE most creative cities around — don’t let our football reputation fool you! As proof, we had two designers on this season’s round of Project Runway and both Kelli and Terri have agreed to be part of the show. Here’s some of Kelli’s advice about making YOUR Halloween costume memorable!

When choosing a costume for Halloween, I usually try to incorporate my natural design aesthetic into the idea. In my case, the costume ends up looking, “pretty ugly.” Just think— ”vintage doll meets psychotic lunatic!”

Although “pretty” is key, I strive to avoid “sexy”. Being scary is what Halloween is all about, and I LOVE applying the over the top makeup!

Last year, I was interested in painting myself, as well as creating a unique costume that both my boyfriend and I could be a part of.

My initial plan, as always, was to think of something that was pretty, but was also “mean.” My boyfriend was interested in being a witch doctor, so immediately I thought, “VOODOO DOLL!!!!”

Once the idea is in place, there is no stopping me. I started by buying burlap and whipping up a dress. Then I  ripped apart a grass skirt and made straw for the tulle underneath the skirt. The most difficult part was getting the pins to stick in my neck! I did some research, and discovered that I could layer latex and shove the straight pins in BEFORE I glued it to my neck……that REALLY made the outfit complete.

My suggestions for creating YOUR Halloween costume is to find out what kind of image that you want to present. Do you want to be Sexy? Scary? Funny? Next, try and find one key “shock element” that will scream your idea, and you can easily build from there.

If you’re somewhere around Grandview and have the urge for some truly decadant, truly fabulous ice cream (and c’mon, that must happen at least once a week, right?) then you must of course head to Jeni’s on Grandview Avenue (and if you’re somewhere else, don’t worry because they have stores all over town now). Whether you need to feed your spicy chocolate cravings with Queen City Cayenne or would rather something light and autumnal like Riesling Poached Pear Sorbet, Jeni’s has your number. They also have Hannah Adkins, who runs the Grandview Store. When she’s not making sure her customers’ every ice cream wish is being met, she’s helping out with HighBall. If you’re looking to volunteer (and our need for you, dear volunteers, is great!) she’ll help figure out where you’re going to go and what you’re going to do. She also, as you can see, makes one hell of a Pinocchio. (You’ll have to come to HighBall to see what’s she got up her costume sleeve this year!)

What’s your favorite kind of Halloween candy?

Candy corn mixed with salty peanuts

Least favorite Halloween candy?

Necco wafers

What was your best ever Halloween costume?

Pinocchio, last year

Which celebrity costume do you hope you DON’T see this year?

I love all celebrity costumes…i don’t want to see another french maid or sexy kitty.

What part of the HighBall are you most excited about and why?

The costumes! It’s fun to be someone else for a night.

Without Morgan, who works for the SNBA, this whole HighBall shindig would be much more of an uphill battle. Her organizational help at the meetings takes a great big enormous load of of everyone especially because she’s taken on the enormous task of managing the volunteers along with set-up and tear down. Speaking of volunteers, head on over to our HighBall volunteer sign-up sheet and go ahead and pick out something fun to do. Morgan will get your submission and follow up with you. Not only will you win our deepest gratitude, you’ll get to say that you were in on what’s destined to be a Columbus legend from the very beginning. Those bragging rights are priceless!!

My first costume was a tiger. I was so ferocious that I scared myself. When I saw my reflection, I burst out in tears.

I better not see Cloris Leachman, Tyra Banks, Hannah Montana, Bret Michaels, or the Cloverfield Monster.

Howloween will be cute, but I’m amped about the couture fashion showdown with Terri Stevens and Kelli Martin.

No, Macey would eat her costume before she’d wear it.

Walker Evans is one of our city’s biggest fans so it’s no surprise to find him front and center on our HighBall planning committee. Besides serving on the North Market Development Authority Board of Trustees, the Create Columbus Commission, the Columbus Chamber of Commerce and the Columbus Metropolitan Club, Walker is the founder of Columbus Underground, the virtual community of the movers and shakers in Columbus. Walker is wearing several HighBall hats: Marketing Committee, Online Promotions and Volunteer Recruitment.

What’s your favorite kind of Halloween candy?

Anything sweet.

Least favorite Halloween candy?

Those unidentifiable chewy things wrapped in orange or black wax paper.

What was your best ever Halloween costume?

I loved going as Mario when I was a kid.

Are there any celebrity costumes you don’t want to see?

Sexy Sarah Palin Outfit

What part of the HighBall are you most excited about and why?

I’m looking forward to the party-in-the-street ambiance that you can’t find at any other Columbus Festival

HighBall keeps taking more strides toward becoming Columbus’ newest signature event. And though it never ceases to amaze me how much effort it takes to create a high-quality event, it also never ceases to amaze me how fun it can be when all the pieces begin to interconnect.

HighBall earned its stripes with the city this week when the department of transportation signed off on closing High Street from Buttles to Hubbard for the night. Though we had crossed our fingers for 6:00PM, we’re quite happy with the 6:30PM close time we were granted. This is a big deal. Closing High Street on a regular work day right after rush hour isn’t something that happens all that often. In fact, High Street event closings of the last five years have really been limited to holiday timings, such as Doo Dah’s 25th anniversary on the 4th of July. Everyone from the city to COTA to the Convention Center have now weighed in on HighBall. The question: “What is the balance of community experience versus the temporary traffic flow inconvenience?” The answer: “Extremely positive!”

Earlier this week, Charly Bauer and I shared the HighBall story with our friends at Experience Columbus. Paul Astleford, Pete McGinty, Xenia Palus, Beth Ervin, Kari Kaughman and the rest of the team (nearly 40 in all) were thrilled about the potential the event represents. In fact, we reconvened a few days later and discussed a regional push that involves sharing the story with upwards of 2,000 writers! Stay tuned on that front. Maybe we can get the entire state talking about it.

The key is the vision for the event and the role it plays in Columbus’ offerings. The development committee has been working extremely hard to make sure HighBall IS an artistic, experiential, wow-factor event… and that it IS NOT a mindless beerfest. This is a question looming for many folks watching the evolution of HighBall. This weekend I ran in to Haley Boehning at the Gallery Hop. She wasn’t shy about expressing her concern that an OU Halloween-bash-clone was in the works. I can understand her trepidations, but I have faith in the creative class of Columbus. If we start this event by taking the artistry dimension to the max, we’ll set the tone for years to come. The eye-candy we create this year will set the bar for the event next year. It’s our competitive spirit. The costumes will become even more elaborate. The staging more magical. The event more experiential.

If we inspire, challenge and reward… it will happen.

Now, I’m not saying that every person who comes to HighBall has to create a 9′ tall, flowing fabric, Priscilla Queen of the Dessert, screaming drag queen ensemble. A few would be cool! Expectation: maybe 10% of the attendees will really take it over the top and invest the energy to make a real statement. The other 90%? They will be there to see what the 10% do! And that’s just fine. That’s all it takes to make the difference.

So here’s to HighBall: the launch, the experience, the evolution. Let’s make it our experience. Columbus’ experience. And let’s make the region buzz with envy that we can pull it off!

Next up… convincing the mayor he would look great in a Venetian Carnivale mask.

Ciao, for now.

ja

It’s becoming obvious to me that blogging about the Short North is going to be more challenging than I had expected. Turns out that with all the projects and tasks at hand, taking a break long enough to write about them isn’t so easy. There’s always the option to go do one more something and write about it a bit later. Unfortunately, “a bit later” becomes considerably later, becomes oops I forgot. This past week is a perfect example. HighBall has been barreling along full-steam. Meeting after meeting. Lining up bands. Getting permits for street closures, sound variances, alcohol sales, bagging meters, and half a dozen other required officiallities. Then there’s event insurance. Staging. Lighting. Recruiting fashion designers. Creating flyers, table tents and advertisements. Talking one-on-one with area businesses about the logistics. And, of course, courting sponsors. Thank goodness for committees and great volunteers who help lighten the load.

But at the end of the day, HighBall is one of half-a-dozen such projects underway in the Business Association of Columbus’ most hyper-active destination. The Short North Gala arrives October 12. The next issue of the Short North Visitors Guide is due out in December. We’re working on our plans for the holidays… which, of course, includes Holiday Hop. We’ve partnered with the city to address aggressive panhandling. We’re working with the downtown community to add way-finding signage to the area. You know, it’s really amazing how much great stuff bubbles up to the active list here in the Short North… and before you know it, another 80-hour week sneaks up on you.

So finding a few minutes to talk about it, isn’t as easy as I expected. That’s cool. There are little spics and specs here and there. There are moments waiting for meetings or the occasional solo lunch. There’s enough time to reflect. I know I have to work on the discipline factor, and take advantage of the snippets. It is doable.

Sitting on my patio watching the Sunday sun rise over the Short North Kroger happens to be a great little moment. Puck is squirrel hunting. The traffic is picking up. Laptop on lap. Battery only partially charged. Ah, that’s good; forces time limits. Looks like the district was hit with more Skully’s and Obama flyers. Mental note, take those down when we head out for our morning constitution.

Okay, here’s the real blog posting. Let’s call it “The Short North Spark”

I started the Short North blog with a bent toward the behind-the-scenes work we do at the Business Association. Now I’m realizing it’s also a great place to share the behind-the-scenes work the various district personalities do to make the Short North so special.

Friday night I received a call from Christie Nohle, owner of Urban Gardener. Christie was teaming with Larry Totzke, president of the Italian Villlage Society for a movie night fundraiser in Christie’s parking lot. The feature: Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck in Roman Holiday. Larry had borrowed the SNBA’s information tent earlier in the day for the gig, but it hadn’t quite registered with me what he was planning.

Around 7:30 (yes, a bit later than I was expecting to be at the office on a Friday), Christie called to “reserve” my projector as a backup in case hers wasn’t strong enough. “No problem,” I agreed. About half an hour later, a second call from Christie: They had started the pre-movie cartoons. All was fine. “What are you and Frank doing? Come join us!” If you know Christie, you know how her voice can carry excitement and a sense of expectation and wonder. “It’s going to be so much fun!” So okay, Frank and I opted to cruise on over to Urban Gardener’s parking lot for a Friday night movie. Why not?

When we arrived, Larry and his wife Sylvia were serving up samples of Italian Village Society wine they had made at Camelot Cellars. The SNBA information tent was their distribution hut. Christie had brought out every chair she stocked in her business. Tall ones. Low ones. Metal ones. Cloth ones. The seating was as eclectic as the 30 or so neighborhood supporters who had shown up for the evening.

Frank and I tossed our $5 suggested contributions into the collection pot and grabbed our bags of popcorn, beverages, bags of candy AND Medco gifts (travel office supplies and sorta fun band-aid dispenser). Good lord. When did $5 ever get so much value? We perched atop a couple of patio bar stools and settled in. As the night progressed it got cooler. We considered sneaking out to warm up. Christie got wind of the issue and ran inside to snag a bright red jacket for me to cut the chill. Crisis averted. The movie was quite enjoyable (the black and white images playing off the textures of the brick wall added a ghostly, surreal sense to the storyline), but I was more caught up in WHAT was going on.

My neighbors were investing their time to create community. It wasn’t just happening, as so many would like to believe is the way of the world… things just magically happen. It was being created. And it took commitment, effort and time. And it touched my heart.

Larry. Sylvia. Christie. Running around picking up tents. Setting out chairs. Spreading the word. Making wine. So many little details. So much time. They probably raised a few hundred dollars on Friday for the Italian Village Park. But far more than that, they created a wonderfully experiential Short North moment. It was after work hours for everyone. But Christie was still setting out chairs for her neighbors. Larry was still pouring samples of wine and welcoming new comers. And Frank and I were absorbing the wonderful fruits of their extra labor, following what was probably an 80-hour work week for each of them. 10:00PM Big rounds of hugs. Helping hands to load equipment into cars. And we were off to the next Short North stop. Completely re-energized and inspired to do our parts the next time.

And as I finish this entry, the sun has fully risen and the entire area is buzzing with energy. Sunday mornings aren’t really as sleepy as everyone would have you believe.

Realization. It’s been another special moment for me in the Short North.

Now it’s time to take Puck on that morning constitution and do a little district clean up. Taking time for community isn’t always on the clock. Sometimes it’s not really work at all. Sometimes it’s an investment in the quality of life we each desire… and well worth the time to reflect upon.

Ciao.

John