Chatham Village Apartment Residents Compete in Pumpkin Carving and Costume Contests

TUSTIN, CA - On October 28th, Martha Venegas, our PSCDC Director of Services for Orange County, invited her residents to compete in a community-wide pumpkin carving and costume contest to celebrate the end of October and kick off the holiday season. Approximately 35 participants showed up from 5:00 to 6:30 PM last Thursday to show off their spooktacular costumes and flex their creativity through carving pumpkins. Working closely with Chatham Village Apartment management, Martha rewarded 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners of both contests with gift cards. First place in the costume contest winning a $25 gift card, with second place winning a $20 gift card, and third place winning a $10 gift card. The biggest prizes were in the pumpkin carving contest, where skills and creativity would reveal the winner. The winner of the pumpkin carving contest would bring home a $50 gift card, with the runner-up and third place winners receiving gift cards with $25 and $10 respectively.

Unlike the typical judge's panel deciding a winner for the contests, the contest winners were chosen with help from the audience and contestants. For the costume contest, winners were determined through the audience applause, which helped liven up the fun and had everyone get involved. On the other hand, winners of the pumpkin carving contest received the most votes from their fellow participants. Every year, Chatham Village residents come up with the most creative pumpkin carving ideas, which has caused the contest to be a highly anticipated event in the community.

The October festivities were much needed to help residents look forward to PSCDC's educational and supportive resident services after a pause in community events due to health and safety precautions. Especially with the holidays fast approaching. Martha is hoping to be able to host more community events to celebrate the end of the year. Chatham Village households are also looking forward to the possibility of more activities and events in the future, with this year's pumpkin carving and costume contests bringing great confidence.

"I feel that little by little we are returning to normality," a resident that attended the contests admitted, "The children missed the contest last year."

A lot of preparation and help went towards the success of the event. Martha and property management worked together to plan, host, and advertise the exciting community event. Volunteers Lorena Suarez, Rogelio Suarez, and Rosy Muro played a vital role in assisting Martha in setting up and preparing for the event. Snacks provided at the event, such as boxes of cookies, granola bars, potato chips, and bottles of punch, came from the extra supply of the community's popular food distribution program, Park-in Market, which is provided by partners such as Meals on Wheels Orange County, Orange County Food Bank, Tustin Family Youth Center, and the City of Tustin. Pumpkins used for the pumpkin carving contest were donated by a charitable anonymous donor. Throughout every level of the community, management, PSCDC, and residents came together in a brilliant display of teamwork to host an enjoyable and safe community event. Thank you to everyone who helped make this event fun and memorable!