Stingray Chevrolet Celebrates Halloween 2021
On October 29, 2021, Stingray Chevrolet car dealership held its 13th annual Halloween costume contest. A few minutes before 10:45 AM, employees began to gather in the lobby. Behind the front desk was a table where they could sign up to enter the contest. After providing their name and costume, they would be given a ticket.
Employees gathered around until Susan Hurley, the owner, took to the microphone. After giving everyone a few more minutes to settle, she asked contestants to move to one side of the lobby and those observing on the other.
One at a time, Mrs. Hurley would announce the contestants’ name, costume, and department. The contestant would walk slowly past the judge’s table for their individual judgment. This continued until every person had shown off their costume. Then, Mrs. Hurley had everyone walk past the judges again for a final look. The judges gathered for a few minutes to compare notes.
Three judges sat at a long table to the side of the lobby. The judges were Maurice Jovan, host of the radio show The Cat Named Mo; James Bradford, the Chief of Plant City Police Department; and Norm Kniess, marketing manager, dressed as Thomas Magnum from Magnum, P.I.
The process of finding the prize trophies was tedious. “I started looking online, and everything was so generic and plastic,” said Roberta Stange, the administrative assistant. “I found homemade glass potion bottle awards on Etsy. Once I found enough to do the thirteen, the shipping was over $400, so I said, ‘I can make these myself.’ So I went back to Google and found Halloween decorations from Big Lots. I ordered everything and sent one of each to the trophy shop to make the plaques to fit. They found a base for the lucky 13th winner, and we were done. They make cool, non-traditional awards.”
Steve Hurley announced the winners, starting with 13th place. The first winner won $100, the second won $200, and it increased until the 13th received $1,300. The first-place winner was dressed as Paul Braun, Stingray’s business manager.
Mrs. Hurley dressed as Moira Rose from the sitcom Schitt’s Creek. Almost everything she wore was from her closet. This event was exciting for her since she does not have the opportunity to dress up often. She had three outfits that she had been tweaking since the week before. That morning, Mrs. Hurley decided she did not like any of them, so she went through her closest, and the outfit came together organically.
“I stopped trying to be an exact copy of a look she had but just kind of go with a little bit of my personality and her character’s personalities. I think it works,” said Mrs. Hurley.
Because of COVID-19 last year, Mrs. Hurley went to each department individually for the contest. She sensed that the new team members did not understand how big the event could be. She thinks they felt more inspired this year and seeing their director participating added to their motivation.
“I think this was the best event as far as participation and as far as the outside judges. And we just tricked the whole thing up this year. It’s fun, and those that have been here a long time don’t let me down. This year, I think we had the most new group ever to play, and everybody new always brings more energy. I am very pleased,” said Mrs. Hurley.
