Minford Costume Tradition Continues to Grow

Article taken from The Portsmouth Daily Times, Wednesday, November 5, 2003

The Minford High School Art Club has been hosting a Hallaoween costume contest since the late 1980s.

Barbara Day, art teacher, has always enjoyed dressing up for Halloween. She brings the world of art to life by creating costumes tha duplicate a painting or an artist. This year, she was the Exquisite Cadaver by Salvador Dali.

Her students really enjoyed the same time she wore a real pumpkin on her head as Jamie Wyeth's Pumpkinhead Self-Portrait. She once taught art class bare-footed when she was Dali's Woman With a Head of Roses. She wore a lampshade on her head another year as Catrina, the Mexican icon of death, from a mural by Diego Rivera. Some other costumes have included works by Magritte and Seurat, as well as art supplies.

Her students look forward to Halloween each year as they wonder what Mrs. Day will think of for her net costume. She's inspired many students to dress-up for Halloween in a unique way. The contest is organized around several categories. They are Scariest, Best Pair, Best Celebrity, Best Character, Best Group and Best of the Rest. Cash prizes are given, and a panel of seven student judges vote on the winners. judging takes place during lunch. the Best Pair was Ashley Roberts and Markus Lott, seniors, dressed as Scarlet O'Hara and Rhett Butler. Ashley Roberts wore her Mom's mid 80s prom dress. Best Celebrity was Jennifer Krueger, freshman, who impersonated Marilyn Monroe. Best Character was Sarah Dials, senior, who was Cruella De Ville from Disney's Dalmation movie. Anissa Blankenship, freshman, was the scariest, with a ghoulish face and a chucky doll in her arms. Rainbow Brite and the Colour Kids was the Best Group and those students were Audra Fedele, Taylor Culbertson, Brittani Tackett and Camden Wright, seniors.

The Best of the Rest was one of the more creative costumes this year. Michelle Gilmore, sophmore, appeared to be riding an ostrich, but in reality her legs were the ostrich legs and stuffed jeans dangled from the ostrich's body. She held a harness in her hands that was fastened to the ostrich's face.

The costume contest may have been a springboard for one of Day's former students, who went on to study theater at Marshall university and is now the official face and voice of Popeye at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida.