Each year we hold our annual pumpkin carving/decorating contest. We then publish the winners on our Facebook and winners get coupons for rent credit.

Here at Discovery at Mandolin we are having our "Night of Fun and Fright" with our Spooky Halloween Costume Party on October 27th. We are having a Balcony decorating contest and the winner will receive a gift card to a local restaurant Our Activites are: Bobbing for apples Witches Brew (with dry ice) this is so cool too :) Minute 2 win it games Halloween Bingo Candy corn count Best Costume Contest It is going to be a night of Fun and Fright....

Materials Needed: Indoor room, like a Clubhouse Murder Mystery script or plan (can be bought online for about $25) Invitations (electronic or paper) Halloween decorations - it is fun to be extra creative and get your maintenance staff involved! Lots of food (see menus below) 4 or more servers/runners 3 ovens (or more, if possible) Plates & Forks, Knives, Spoons - We used paper the first year and wanted to "class it up" to we went to Goodwill and St. Vincent de Paul and bought nice ceramic plates and metal silverware for cheap. We keep these items in our clubhouse year-round. Event: For the last three years we have hosted a Murder Mystery Dinner for our residents. We put invitations by everyone's door or send out e-invites about 3-4 weeks prior to the event, and we usually get about 60 (!) residents who attend. We ask for volunteers...

We announce to our residents via flyers and on facebook about our community Fall Decorating Contest and when they will be judged. Residents then have the chance to decorate either their patio or balcony before the judges tour the property. Once the winners are picked, we contact them via phone and then announce the winners in our quarterly newsletter and on facebook. We award prizes to the 1st, 2nd & 3rd Place homes. Prizes range from $50 gift card for the 1st place to $15 gift card for 3rd place.

Just recently, I had a family member diagnosed with Breast Cancer. So this is hitting close to home for me. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. There is so much your community can do to help out! I gathered some ideas from NBCAM website and would like to share it here. Of course, there are fundraising activities, you can support a walk in your community to raise funds to donate to help with research, you can have a bake sale to help raise money, or you can just have a drive and try to get people to donate. But…there is so much more that can be done. · Does your community have a Breast Cancer support group? I am sure this horrible disease has affected many in your communities. Have a monthly meeting to show support for...