News 12 took an interest in Monsterville this week and were live with Mayor Ted Brennan yesterday to ask about the town's decision to discourage Trick-or-Treating this year. Brennan says that one of the main reasons is a lack of resource “To ask our police officers or anybody to go out there and try to enforce a ban on trick-or-treating just didn’t seem realistic,” he says. “We also felt that there’s a subset of the community that feels comfortable participating in Halloween here in ‘Monsterville.’ We wanted them to have the opportunity to continue to do that.” Other Monsterville Halloween traditions will continue to take place like the annual house decorating competition and the annual eighth grade haunted house - now a socially distant parade. Brennan says that Halloween will return in full force for the next year with the motto, "Double the candy in 2021."

Undeterred by the pandemic, "We've Been BOOed!" gift totes will be making their magical way from house to house in Monsterville soon! First one neighbor, then another - then, before you know it, it's your house!  This enchanting tradition of friendly community fun surprises neighbors, friends or family with a gift that you make and leave at their door. Halloween BOO-ing begins when one neighbor secretly leaves a small gift basket, a BOO poem, BOO instructions and a BOO sign at a neighbor's doorstep. The lucky BOO-ee is asked to post the sign near the door, alerting others that "We've Been BOO-ed!" In turn, the neighbor is asked to BOO two other households, creating a chain reaction of Halloween fun. Day by day, the BOO signs proliferate. Before you know it, the entire neighborhood is sporting BOO signs, and everyone is guessing. Anyone who gets Booed and needs copies of the BOO poem, BOO door sign or Booing instructions can pick them up after October 1st in the plastic tote outside Monsterville Borough Hall! 

Ryan's Retail, located at 22 North Centre Street, has a new vendor - Jess Chalks - who's a perfect fit for transforming your home into "Monsterville" 2020 haunt. Everything is handmade to perfection and impossible to forget. Her Chalk Transfers™, Chalkology™ Paste and Chalkology™ Ink will quickly turn any surface you want from boring into breathtaking. How about creating practical and budget-friendly, double-sided decorations you can use for Halloween and Fall. Learn "how to" with Jess. Ryan’s Retail hours are Wednesday through Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

"I'll take a chocolate coke please." Sentiments like this can be found on the recently created Merchantville Neighbors Uncensored - one of an ever-growing array of community social media pages. This new FB page, managed by Adam Wallace, seems to have sprouted in reaction to an uproar on the Merchantville Neighbors page last July when Lawrence Damian Capua, Sr., a prolific poster of local lore, began to dispense large doses of positivity through his historic memories of Merchantville and nearby communities. For a while his musings brought pleasure to many and a welcome change from many posts on that page. But sadly, that tempered tone was short-lived as some contributors voiced concerns that his "cheerful" posts were co-opting their right to a rowdy debate forum. Turns out those lighthearted posts from an unassuming grocery clerk and former Merchantville High grad had clearly ruffled the feathers of some consummate curmudgeons. There were calls for Merchantville Neighbors moderator, Mike McLoone, to pre-approve, censor or even banish him - Oh, my!  Well, "Lovable Larry" and his swarm of loyal supporters won the day but, "the bloom was off the rose" and it was clearly time to find a more hospitable nest. Enter Neighbors Uncensored, a friendly, welcoming home where local facebook fans can freely reminisce with Larry about life during simpler times untroubled by social media muggings. So, if you're interested in Merchantville and browsing around Facebook to find your "cup of tea" there are a variety of perspectives on pages and groups to test drive including: Borough of Merchantville, Merchantville Online, Merchantville Living, Merchantville Observer and Merchantville Matters.