Nixon Elementary Scares up Some Fun at Monster Mash

Families in costume enjoyed a ghoulishly good time on Friday during one of the most anticipated evenings of the year at Nixon School – the annual Halloween Monster Mash.

Dancing with disco lights and costume judging were the highlights of the night, and the school gym was packed with revelers enjoying both. Awards were given for the scariest, funniest, and most creative costumes in various age ranges.

"It's just a great family event!" said school administrative secretary Cindy Brown before the party.

Parents volunteered countless hours to transform the school with spooky decorations, selling tickets, baked food, and planned activities. Jack-o-lanterns carved by local Boy Scouts lit up the school's entrance, and hallways throughout the school were lined with gravestones, skeletons, and strings of orange lights.

Popular activities at the Monster Mash included fortune telling, arts and crafts, and a cakewalk offering dozens of Halloween-themed cakes as prizes. However, the crowd favorite was the haunted hospital. Deranged doctors specialized in amputation, and delighted kids, emerged from the operating room sporting plenty of gauze and fake blood.

Festivities wrapped up by 8:30 p.m., allowing little ghouls time to get lots of rest before a busy weekend of pumpkin carving and trick-or-treating.