The Scare Faire was a lot of fun this year, even though a bit smaller. About 40-50 people attended, and at least a hundred costumes were exchanged. Everyone tabling was engaged, including our face painters and welcome tablers.

This year we didn’t have any middle or high school volunteers, but thanks to everyone who spread the word. We did have a thriving event, still, with Greenwaste and their fun sorting guessing game, plus Canopy with their own cool tree trivia, two kids doing face painting, our toilet paper roll owls, a welcome table with a Spy the Spice guessing game, and lots of costumes!

Lots of people also got creative with Fabmo’s fabric, tying them on as capes, draping them in new ways, and planning on making their own costumes out of the various pieces.

Thank you to the Museum of American Heritage (MoAH) and Lauren for hosting in their beautiful space with the garden for yet another year, to Greenwaste (Lucia and Vibha) and Canopy (Anna, Indira and the other volunteers!) for their table activities and enthusiasm, to Fabmo for all their beautiful fabrics. Also thanks to longtime Transitioners: Barbara for welcoming and setup, Roy and Chris for the welcome table and great conversations. To my family members: mom Suha (visiting from San Diego) for her Spy the Spice game, and my daughter and niece for face painting and helping with crafts. Also thanks to volunteer Roya and a couple of other attendees who just showed up but helped sort and hang up costumes or clean up too! Thank you to YCS (fun fact: the Costume Swap, after it was at the Palo Alto Library, was run at Blossom Birth, run by Mora Oomen now at YCS!) and Michael at Zero Waste Palo Alto in addition to everyone else for spreading the word about the event also!

And lastly but certainly not least, thank you to Peter Ruddock, though not nearby, who has been our Scare Faire partner-in-crime on this event since 2014 and even earlier when we had “Sharing Expos” – still helping out with logistics from afar!

Transition, as you may know, is all about building a positive vision of the future in which we stop relying on fossil fuels but still live wonderful, connected, local lives. Our little hub of Transition Palo Alto has shrunk over the years to a lean group of people, but every year the Scare Faire reminds me that the spirit of that positive vision is alive and well.

Thank you, as well, to everyone who attended and made this event possible, for taking a dare on sharing a new costume and passing it down, for being good neighbors to each other and to our shared planet. The remaining costumes continue to find new homes in our neighborhood, continuing your generosity year after year.

Thanks again to MoAH, Zero Waste Palo Alto, Greenwaste, Fabmo, PTA Council, YCS, YCAB, and Canopy for all your support and sharing.

We hope to see you all again next year!