Halloween Fun- A neighborhood event

So when my family first moved into our neighborhood we didn't really know anyone except our close friends the Henry's that lived on a nearby street.  So I inquired about joining the activities committee, however realized that with school, work and family I really didn't have any time to fully commit to being on the committee.  So I offered to help where I could but didn't officially join.  Well we've been in our house for 3 years now (Oct 1st was our 3 yr anniversary in our house- wow!) and we've been to 1 neighborhood event in that time and it was within 30 days after we moved in.  So I always complain about how our activities committee doesn't plan enough stuff and our HOA fees are going to waste, etc.  So this year I decided to take matters into my own hands.  We live in a double ended culd-e-sac and I ran it by my neighbors to make sure everyone was on board (since the culd-e-sac is kind of a common area- didn't think it was fair to assume everyone would be cool with volunteering the space- but my neighbors are awesome and everyone was on board). 

So I volunteered my husband and his friend Bryan to load up their truck beds with hay and do hay rides.  One of them will lead the pack and the other will trail and in between the trucks the kids can do a little parade around the inner streets of our neighborhood.  We made it a potluck so depending on what number people's houses end in (odd or even) they will bring either a dessert or appetizer.  After the parade we'll do snacks, games and a costume contest prize in the culd-e-sac.  Since this isn't (wasn't) an HOA sponsored event there really is no money so I decided rather than putting myself out of pocket for the prizes I would try to see if I could get some donations.  I was so excited to get so many awesome donations.  I thought it would be nice to recognize the local places that donated and just say thanks.  Here's what we received so far:

Loudoun Sports Bounce:  5 free bounce passes
Bowl America (Chantilly):  5 free games of bowling
Panther Family Fun Center:  10 free passes for laser tag
Glory Days (Stone Ridge):  2 $10 gift cards

Meanwhile, I posted this on our community website to try to branch out and invite people in the neighborhood that we don't know.  The head of the activities committee contacted me and mentioned having a mass email sent out to everyone by contacting the webmaster.  So I did and now this event is going to be considered a neighborhood event.  I'm really excited because I think it'll be a fun event for the kids (and parents since I think a lot of them are planning on dressing up too!).  We have a really fun neighborhood and I think events like this help instill a sense of community and a good way to meet more neighbors.  So looking forward to it and I'll post pictures once we have it.