LET’S PARTY!
It’s the start of the fourth quarter and your team is going for the final push to the end zone. Wait! It’s not that fourth quarter, it’s the other fourth quarter, as in the last three months of the year. There’s a sorta, kinda push to a different kind of end zone with an eye on that end of year superbowl of parties, New Years Eve! It’s the beginning of the big party season, opening with the ghoulish glamour of Halloween and ending with the aforementioned New Year’s Eve gala.
You don’t really need a reason to have a party, but if you need one, there are plenty. Graduations, promotions, engagements, baptisms, reunions, Bar Mitzvahs, first tooth, first word, homecoming from a variety of venues and on and on. But by far, the golden throne of parties is the Birthday Party. But, as they say (whoever they are), today’s birthday party is not like your grandmother’s birthday party.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF BIRTHDAY PARTIES
The unmistakable intention of the party “was to teach children the manners they would need to assume their place of privilege in society.” Consequently, birthdays were large and extravagant, orchestrated by the mother, usually with the help of a sizable staff.
They did, however, have cake. Typically is was a hefty fruit or nut cake decorated with candles, an idea borrowed by the Victorians from the Germans. The traditional two-layer cake arrived in the 1840s following the invention of the freestanding
who thought this responsibility encouraged independence among these budding industrialists.
The lavish party had become a bit impractical as appliances had eliminated servants in most middleclass homes by the 1920s. Without the domestic help, it was the moms who would be left to clean up messes left behind by a few dozen kids.
It was during the post-World War II boom years that birthday parties became a right of passage. By the 1950s, kids expected birthday parties and ones that did not have one were seen as neglected.
cook stove. Ice cream, goody bags, paid entertainment and outings followed a few decades afterward. Still no “Happy Birthday to You,” as the song was not a party standard until 1934, when it was featured in a popular musical.
Most of the traditions about which the present generation is nostalgic stem from this era. Remember Pin the Tail on the Donkey and three-legged races? Mothers often referred to popular party manuals, which described the rules and proper decor for parties for every age.
Today, birthday parties have no limits and parents, kids and party planners have dug deep into their creative repertoires to come up with every conceivable party theme.
In the early 1800s, a kid’s birthday party was a spectacle and more about wealthy Victorian parents showing off their stature than celebrating their kid’s birthday. A truly old-fashioned birthday would consist of a house full of servants and a ballroom to entertain the masses. They would flaunt their wealth by indulging their children, while simultaneously instructing them in etiquette.
Things got significantly less formal and more similar to what we think of today around the turn of the last century. These parties were now about the kids, with the guest lists determined more by the child than the parent. Mothers had turned control over the guest list to their children, primarily at the urging of the era’s child psychologists
In this issue you will find a plethora of party ideas, some traditional, some outrageous and some surprising.
SO, LET’S PARTY!
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We take the time to listen to you, to accurately diagnose your illnesses or injuries and ensure prompt treatment. Our friendly staff is genuinely interested in caring for your health and well being and want to ensure your experience exceeds your expectations.
We take the time to listen to you, to accurately diagnose your illnesses or injuries and ensure prompt treatment. Our friendly staff is genuinely interested in caring for your health and well being and want to ensure your experience exceeds your expectations.
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Workers Comp, also accepted
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Workers Comp, also accepted
We take the time to listen to you, to accurately diagnose your illnesses or injuries and ensure prompt treatment. Our friendly staff is genuinely interested in caring for your health and well being and want to ensure your experience exceeds your expectations.
X-ray, Labs, EKG and Treadmill Stress Testing on Site!
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OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK
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SCHOOL OR SPORT PHYSICALS
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WHAT’S GHOULISH?
The days of sending our costumed angels off into the Halloween night to collect goodies from the neighbors, only having to worry if they’ll eat too much candy, are long gone. These days, safety is a primary concern of parents when it comes to the annual trick-or-treat ritual. Our kids, on the other hand, have just one focus, having fun. Well, maybe two, having fun and getting lots! of candy. How can our safety concerns as parents and our kids’ desire for Halloween adventure be reconciled?
When the kids are small, mom and dad can accompany them on their ghoulish romp through the neighborhood in search of ways to fund their dentist’s winter trip to St. Barts. At the end of the night, parents will sift through the bags of goodies, removing anything that looks, smells, feels suspicious;
passing on all the secured candies to the little tykes for an evening of sugar highs.
When the kids are older they’d rather put needles in their eyeballs than be seen with mom or dad parading around the neighborhood wearing a batman costume, carrying a plastic pumpkin, doing duty as a treator-treat bag. We, therefore, need alternatives and ones that’ll keep mom from chewing off her hundred dollar manicure. Fortunately, there are many...
Most of the parks and recreation departments and local community associations will be hosting some sort of controlled Halloween event.
Tarpon Springs Recreation will be hosting a HALLOWEEN BASH Join them for a safe alternative to trick or treating. Children may go from
booth to booth to get Halloween treats. They will have bounce houses, concessions, crafts, and more. At the Tarpon Springs Sports Complex on Saturday, October 19th from 10 AM-1 PM. This is a FREE evemt.
Palm Harbor Recreation will be hosting Halloween carnival: the freakshow on Friday October 24th at Harbor Hall/White Chapel. 6:00 to 9:00 pm. Join them for an unforgettable night of scares, games, treats and more! FREE Trick or Treats. Costumes encouraged. Food and drink available for purchase. $8 wrist band gets you on hatride, haunted house, games and inflatables. Call 727-771-6000 for more info.
Dunedin Recreation will be hosting their downtown trick-ortreat event on Friday, October 24th from 5:00pm-8:00pm along Main St. and Broadway Ave. Roads will be closed for children to safely trick or treat along Main St. and Broadway Ave. Presented by the City of Dunedin. For more info call 727-298-3201.
Monsters & Mayhem. Saturday October 25th. 6:00pm to 9:00pm. Expect eerie encounters and spinechilling surprises because this event is not for the faint of heart! This immersive Halloween event creeps into the Dunedin Community Center on Saturday, October 25th from 6-9:00 pm with a night full of fright and fun. Dare to navigate a twisted trail of terrors, dance
among the undead’s bone-rattling beats at a silent disco, and enjoy macabre munchies that will leave you howling for more. $10/person. Tailored for brave ghouls and goblins ages 8 and up - enter if you dare! For more event information, call 727-812-4530.
Largo Recreation will host a Trick or Treat Trail on Friday, October 24th starting at 5:30 pm. Children 1-13 FREE Largo City Hall Complex. Dress in your
Halloween best and trick or treat around the perimeter of the Largo City Hall. Check out our decorated booths and say hello to our costumed characters, performers and make it a fun family night while trick-or-treating with the City of Largo. Parking is available at the Highland Recreation Complex. Call 727.587.6740 x5009 for more details!
Seminole Recreation will be hosting seminole fIeld of screams on Friday, October 24th at the Holland G. Mangum Recreation Complex located at 9100 113th Street N in Seminole. The hours are 6-9pm. Seminole’s annual premier haunted attraction, admissions begin at 6:00pm. The entry fee is $7. Be aware this may not be appropriate for small children. For more information call 727-3918345.
Pinellas Park will host a Halloween treat trail on Friday October 31st from 6-9pm at England Brothers Park, 5010
Dave McKay Way. Girls and boys of all ages may collect candy donated by local businesses and community organizations. The Treat Trail begins at 6pm. Activities, costume contest, prizes, refreshments and popcorn will be provided. For more information call 727-369-5285.
Safety
Harbor will host it’s MAIN
STREET TRICK-OR-TREAT
on Friday, October 31th from 4:306:30pm. Put on your costume and come to Main Street and Trick-or-Treat in a safe family atmosphere! Look for the Mayor and Commissioners handing out treats, as well. It’s for all ages and FREE. Main Street will be closed from Bayshore to 8th Ave. from 4pm until 7pm.
Fright Nights Haunted Trail are on October 24th and 25th! Visit Folly Farm from 6-10:00pm for fall themed activities, a campfire, vendors, the haunted trail and more! This event is going to be SPOOKTACULAR! Tickets are $3.00-$8.00
The St. Pete YMCA is hosting its boo bash on Friday, October 24th from 5:30-7:30pm at the Jim
and Heather Gills YMCA, 3200 1st Ave S, St. Petersburg and at the Bardmoor YMCA, 8495 Bryan Dairy Rd. in Largo. Join the ghouls and goblins for a family fun night. The event will include a costume contest, activities and Trunk-orTreat. Trick out your vehicle and pass out candy from the trunk to the children! This is a FREE event that will take place outdoors on the Y’s sports fields. For more info, call St. Pete at 727-895-9622 or Largo at 727-394-9622.
HALLOWEEN BASH
Everyone is invited to the Gulfport Recreation Center Halloween Bash from 7pm
to 9pm, Friday, October 31st. Enjoy trunk-or-treat, games, costume contests. Costume contests will begin at 8 p.m. 5730 Shore Blvd. South For More Info call 727-8931068.
Additionally, there are Halloween parties at friends homes, trick-ortreating at the mall and at local businesses.
And, of course, let’s not forget Busch Gardens’ Howl-O-Scream and Zoo Tampa at Lowry Park’s Boo in the Zoo.
So, folks, whether you’re escorting your kids or becoming one of the kids on Halloween, don’t forget to have a ghoulishly good time!
OUTSIDE THE BOX PARTY IDEAS
S o you want something different than your standard birthday party fare for the kids? Take a look at these outside the box ideas. For examply, what is more outside the box than having a unicorn at your child’s birthday party? Well, at In the Breeze Horse Ranch you can do just that!
In the Breeze Horse Ranch is located at 7539 Gardner Road in the Westchase area of Tampa and offers a variety of horse themed parties for kids. There is nothing like the warmth and fun of sitting around a fire to turn an afternoon or evening into a memorable night with friends and family! With their Bonfire and Hayride parties you will make lasting memories! Sit around a bonfire while spending quality time with the people that matter most in your life, followed by a 25 minute hayride that gives you a tour of the beautiful ranch.
Try their Kids Night Out Sunset Horsey Party, an evening of adventure for ages 8-17! The kids will need to wear long pants and a closed toed shoe. A fun-filled evening will consist of a pizza party, going over safety around horses and the rules of the ranch. This is a mini lesson to ensure everyone has a SAFE and fun evening! All kids will get to experience grooming and saddling and then taking the horses for a sunset trail ride out around the beautiful lake. Each child is
assigned their very own horse, suited just to their riding level. The night will end with a campfire and marshmallow roast. For more information call In the Breeze Horse Ranch at (813) 264-1919 or visit www. inthebreezeranch.com.
If pampering, fun and fantasy is your idea of a great party, then look no further than La Dee-Da Kids Spa in Countryside. Celebrate your
child’s next special occasion at the spa that loves to work with kids!
Whether it’s a dress-up party for the whole gang, some Mommy and Me girl time, or a special up-do for the big recital, La DeeDa Kids Spa is the place to be!
La Dee-Da Kids Spa is not only a spa and salon, it’s the ultimate children’s party center including a boutique and photography studio! For that
special party or event, your child can become a princess or a super hero, you can hire a princess, or one of their many other characters, engage a face painter, get a mani and/or pedi, or the total package including hair, nails and make-up.
A photo session is icing on the cake, so you and your child can keep the memory forever! Parties may be held at the spa or a location of your choice.
Theme parties at La Dee-Da Kids Spa are special! With a Kids Dress Up Party, you get the full treatment of your nails polished, make-up application or face painting and your hair
done with the latest style before a runway fashion show!
How about a Black Light Glow-in-theDark Party with glowin-the dark face paint, glow nail polish and lip gloss, and a glow in the dark hair style? Just want your party to be about relaxation? Then try a Kids Spa Party and get a manicure and/ or pedicure with a full make-up application or face painting and hair style.
For more info on La Dee-Da Kids Spa, where kids get the Royal Treatment, call 727301-1808, visit them at 2250 SR 580 in Clearwater or check them out at www. ladeedakidsspa.com.
Jane and Mike of Divine Ceramics located in the Key West Center at 2706 Alt 19N, Suite 304 in Palm Harbor offer fabulous parties. Party Packages are custom-made for a Child’s Birthday Party, lasting approximately 3 hours and would include a medium item such as a dog, unicorn, bank, etc. Each guest can pick his or her own fun item within a given budget and colors to work with or with advance notice all guests can paint the same item and you will see just how creative each individual can be. Painting the same item for Bridal & Baby Showers has proven to make
really nice centerpieces… and so much fun! If you would like a specific themed party, no problem, just let them know at least three weeks in advance so they can custom make the items in which you are interested.
For more info about fabulous parties at Divine Ceramics, call (727) 475-9843.
You can’t have a party without food, so what better party to have than a food party at Young Chef’s Academy in Seminole. Their motto is “You supply the Chef and we supply the rest!“ Come celebrate your special occasion with their “one-ofa-kind” party experiences! All of their party options are filled with interactive & amusing activities guaranteed to entertain and engage party guests. Young Chefs Academy offers their “ALL-INCLUSIVE” Party Packages where you supply the chefs and they supply the rest!
All parties include invitations, balloons, decorations, drinks for party participants, chef aprons for use during the party, paper chef hat for each participant and recipe card, including recipes prepared during the party.
They have pizza parties, pasta parties or for your sweet tooth, cupcake parties.
Young Chef’s Academy is located at 9690 Seminole Blvd in Seminole. For more information or to book a delicious party call 727.350.4587. Bon appetite!
Get your face painted at La Dee-Da Kids Spa in Countryside!
