For Brooke Shepard, Halloween is all about being neighborly.
But it’s equally about getting kids to actually stop by.
“My personal theory is that Halloween makes every child a mini-economist,” Brooke told My Ballard. “They all figure out quickly how to maximize their return on treats with every step. Since our block only has houses on one side and the Loyal Heights playfield on the other, a lot of kids were skipping it for denser streets.”
For 10 years, Brooke and his wife Meghan at 7522 20th Ave NW have been teaming up with their neighbors to created “Haunted Driveways,” from a Stranger Things-themed trip into the Upside Down to a Game of Thrones visit to Westeros. During the pandemic, they started sling-shotting candy off their front porch for kids to catch with fishing nets.
The sling-shot approach was fun—Brooke says kids loved it—but he wanted to make it easier for kids to actually catch the candy. So for the past several years, the Shepards have adopted a different method: Operation Candy Drop.
Brooke says the concept was inspired by the real-life Candy Bomber named Gail Halvorsen who dropped 23 tons of candy to the children of Berlin after World War II. Here’s how it works: the Shepards parachute tiny soldiers packed with candy bars to trick-or-treaters.
“The idea of candy being parachuted to children struck a chord, and we quickly figured out we could rubber band a piece of candy to a toy soldier with a parachute, then sling it high into the air so it’d float down to the kids to catch below. It’s been a hit and we’re in our third year,” Brooke said.
“What I’ve learned is that kids think Halloween is about costumes, candy and spooky decorations, but Halloween is really about neighbors showing children how to be neighborly,” he said.
“Halloween is a chance to invite others to your door, and connect with the people that live closest to us. It’s a reminder that as the nights get darker, we can still rely on each other.”
The Shepards will be running Operation Candy Drop from 6 – 8 p.m. on Halloween night, Saturday, Oct. 31.
Photos by Brooke Shepard