2020 Halloween Guidance Issued by Ventura County Public Health

UPDATE 9/16: There's been an update to VC Public Health's "Interim Halloween Guidance" available at vcrecovers.com in the News and Updates section. Door to door trick or treating and "trunk or treating" are now "not recommended" rather than "not permitted."

Details at vcportal.ventura.org/CEO/VCNC/2020-09-16_VCPH_InterimHalloweenGuidance.pdf

Ventura County Public Health has issued Halloween Guidance to reduce the spread of COVID-19 that includes the following:

Not Permitted Under Current Health Orders:

1. Halloween gatherings or events with non-household members, both indoors and outdoors.

2. Carnivals, festivals, live entertainment and haunted house attractions.

3. Door to door trick or treating.*

4. "Trunk or treating"*

* Due to difficulty in maintaining social distancing, riskiness of sharing food/candy, etc.

Permitted and Recommended:

1. Online parties/contests

2. Pumpkin picking at pumpkin patches

3. Car parades

4. Halloween movie nights at drive-in theaters

5. Halloween themed meals at outdoor eateries

6. Dressing up homes/yards with Halloween decor

More details at THIS LINK.

The Best Halloween Store Ever Opening in New Location in September 2014

2019 Update: The Best Halloween Store Ever has been located for the past several years at Janss Marketplace. This location is now the Tarantula Hill Brewing Company.

LOCAL ARE CRAFT BREWERIES AND TAPROOMS

The Best Halloween Store Ever is opening its new seasonal location this year at old Plummer's Furniture building, 244 E Thousand Oaks Boulevard, Thousand Oaks. The retail space is more than double the size of its previous seasonal location at the old El Torito building, which was torn down and became a new Chick-fil-A this past May.

No doubt the owners of this store will continue in their quest to present some of the most terrifying, gruesome, not-for-faint-of-heart displays along with lots of fun for all ages, while presenting a large assortment of costumes and accessories to complete any costume. Get updates at www.facebook.com/besthalloweenstoreever.

Santa Paula Rotary Announces Cancellation of 2014 Faulkner Farm Pumpkin Patch

The Santa Paula Rotary recently announced the cancellation of the 2014 Faulkner Farm Pumpkin Patch "due to actions taken by the University of California and the Hansen Trust Advisory Board" Approximately 20,000 people visit the patch each year.

Hay mazes at the Faulkner Farm Pumpkin Patch in a previous year.

According to the press release, the Santa Paula Pumpkin Patch Committee attempted to work with the Hansen Trust to permit the Pumpkin Patch to run for an additional transitional year while a new venue was sought. But "UC chose to discriminate against the Rotary Club by establishing new conditions and barriers which are not uniformly applied to other UC campuses and property throughout the state, or even at the Hansen Trust, making it impossible for the Rotary operated Faulkner Farm Pumpkin Patch to continue" according to the Rotary. More background on the situation at www.faulknerfarmpumpkinpatch.com/information.html.

To justify its actions, UC/Hansen Trust stated that the professional exhibits provided by the Resource Conservation District, United Water Conservation District, Limoneira, CoLab, Calavo, the Cattleman’s Association, Rincon-Vitova Insectaries, Associates Insectary, FFA petting area & Briggs 4-H seed exhibit were of poor quality and no educational value. The educational hayride script and school program, developed by Hansen Trust staff, were also deemed educationally meaningless.  Interestingly, 63% of the people visiting the Pumpkin Patch last year (a significantly higher number than the total visiting the farm for the entire remaining 11 months of the year) said they learned something new about agriculture during their visit.

To learn more, visit www.faulknerfarmpumpkinpatch.com. The Rotary Club of Santa Paula encourages the public to share your thoughts about the actions taken by UC and the Hansen Trust with Ms. Janet Napolitano, President, University of California, Office of the President, 1111 Franklin St, Oakland, CA 94607 or President@ucop.edu.

"The Best Halloween Store Ever" is Returning Again to Thousand Oaks This Year

The former Thousand Oaks El Torito on 449 N. Moorpark Roadhas once again transformed into "The Best Halloween Store Ever!" The store opened on August 24th, over two months in advance of Halloween this year!

If you like blood and gore, this store has one of the most jaw dropping displays you'll find, making ample use of what used to be the El Torito kitchen area. Not for the faint of heart. But there are other sections of the store that are a bit more tame and equally entertaining. Of course, the store sells costumes, ghoulish decor and other great Halloween items for all ages. Visit www.besthalloweenstoreever.com for more information.