The Burbank community is celebrating the spirit of the holiday season with a map display of local Halloween decorations and events.
Burbank resident Jen Spincic created the Halloween Decorations Map last year to identify decorative Burbank Halloween locations for residents looking to celebrate the holiday safely during the pandemic. As she is a mother to a young child, Spincic wanted to do something to spread Halloween fun throughout the city and celebrate the creativity of Burbank locals.
“I just started realizing how many cool decorations we have here in Burbank because we have so many people here in the entertainment industry, and we have such a cool community when the holidays start,” Spincic said.
The map quickly gained a strong amount of traction regionally, with a total of over 170 houses being added to the map by neighbors and community members leading up to Halloween. In addition, the map received over 17,000 online views. The popularity of the map prompted Spincic to expand the project and introduce sites with decorations throughout the winter holiday season in November and December of 2020.
“People loved it so much because they were out and about. Families would go out, [people would] go on date nights and just go look at all the Halloween decorations everywhere,” Spincic said. “It’s really cool. It’s just an awesome way to bring the community together and have some fun.”
For the 2021 holiday season, Spincic has reintroduced the map, and this new iteration will include local and regional Halloween events and pumpkin patches in addition to Halloween decoration destinations. Thus far, over 100 houses are listed on the map, as well as 51 events and 10 pumpkin patches. Community members are welcome to contribute photos and videos of events and locations online, as well as sites they feel would be beneficial additions to the map.
The decorations map operates under a Facebook group also started by Spincic in the fall of 2020, called the Holidays in Burbank Facebook group. This family-friendly online club is welcoming to all people who are interested in conversing about holiday celebrations, decoration ideas, festive arts and crafts, and more. Around 1,500 members make up the group, and nearly 500 members are joining weekly as the holidays are fast approaching. The success of the Facebook group and Halloween Decorations Map continues to fulfill Spincic’s mission of spreading happiness to families, friends, and loved ones seeking out an enjoyable time for the holidays.
“It just makes me happy to make other people happy,” Spincic said. “It’s been a crazy last couple of years. Just the thought that people can actually go out and have some fun and forget about all the stuff that we’re going through right now, it feels really good just to make other people happy and bring joy into their lives.”
View or add to the Halloween Decorations Map here: https://www.ontheroadagainnotary.com/
Learn more about the Holidays in Burbank Facebook group here.
(© Ross A Benson)
(© Ross A Benson)
