Halloween Turns Work into Play-
At Least for a While

UC employees may technically be too old to trick or treat, but that didn't keep them from revealing a bit of the "child within" as workers at University Hall gathered for their Second Annual Costume Contest.

The festivities started at 8:30 a.m. sharp on Halloween as staff members gathered in the lobby for judging. Morticia and Gomez, the entire crew of Scooby-Doo, The Blue Nun and Paul Stanley, the lead singer from KISS, were among the guests.

Kim Wright of Parking Services from Edward Centers stopped by to check out the festivities. Ironically the woman who often gives out parking tickets on the job dressed as a sheriff. "I made a special trip over here to see what's going on," she said.

The Morticia and Gomez who attended this party looked, oddly enough, like the ones on The Addams Family of television and cinema fame. They claimed, however, to belong to "The Admins Family." They were really Martine Hodges and Mike Gilkerson of Administrative Services, accompanied by Tony Balzano (Uncle Fester), Betty Miller (Grandmama), Mike Burba (Lurch), Tosha Davenport (Cousin Itt), Larry Suttles (Pugsley), Tammy Kincaid (Wednesday), Dominic Ferreri (the fictitious cousin Kilroy) and Diane Lewis (the fictitious cousin Latticia). The whole crew won first place.

"It's pretty fun. You get to be a kid again - that's the good part," claimed Cousin Itt peeking out from behind the strands of raffa that she glued to a hat to create her disguise.

The Admins Family also decorated the entrance to their suite on the second floor to look like the haunted Addams family abode, including a "Thing," some rats and stony façade.

Four-coworkers who work in one corner of the Facilities Management offices took a cue from cartoons and film to recreate the characters of Scooby-Doo, complete with a miniature fake dog and Scooby Snacks. The person dressed as Daphne - the pretty looking character who does pretty much nothing - is the one who came up with the concept. "I do a lot of Goodwill shopping," explained Darlene "Daphne" Parrillo, dressed in a blue sweater dress with a chartreuse scarf and obligatory hairband on her head. She and her co-workers went to the Scooby web site and tried to match the costumes to the drawings they found. Her cohorts were Everett Wolverton (the hippie-esque Shaggy), Don Connley (the preppy looking blond-haired Fred) and Barbara Pogoni (the brainy Velma).

The second-place winner, Michael Lang of UC Foundation's information technology department, stayed up nearly the whole night assembling his costume. He had originally decided to dress as a "pimp daddy," but decided that idea wasn't original enough. He ran into two others at a party last weekend. Instead, he went back to the costume shop and transformed himself into the lead singer for KISS, combining elements of three different costumes.

"I went to all their concerts as a kid. My dad took me," Lang explained.

Once the judging was over, workers headed back to their offices but were scheduled to reassemble for a potluck party at 3:30 p.m. to learn the prize winners' names.

Asked if she would keep her costume on all day, Cousin Itt, who is really a purchasing agent, replied, "Woo no. I have work to do!"

Contest winners:

• First prize, costume (one month free parking) - The Addams Family (Tony Balzano, Mike Burba,Tosha Davenport, Dominic Ferreri, Mike Gilkerson, Martine Hodges, Tammy Kincaid, Betty Miller and Larry Suttles), Administrative & Business Services
  
• Second prize, costume (lunch for two at Kingsgate) - Rock Star from KISS - Mike Lang, UC Foundation
  
• Third prize, costume (Bookstore bundle of gifts) - The Blue Nun - Becky Turner, Benefits Office
  
• Best Decorated Door - UC Foundation
  
• Best Decorated Area - UCit Department