Occupy Chapel Hill demonstrators returned to their post Tuesday after voluntarily taking down their tents for Halloween.

The Chapel Hill Police Department had offered to increase the number of officers outside the Franklin Street post office site Monday night to protect the encampment. But the demonstrators offered to temporarily pull up stakes, said Amanda Ashley, an Occupy Chapel Hill participant from Carrboro.

The size of the town’s Halloween crowd presents a public safety issue, Ashley said.  “Leaving eliminated us as a concern for the police.”

About 27,000 people celebrated on Franklin Street Monday night.

Look for the complete story in tomorrow's News & Observer.
 

Halloween may not be until Monday, but the party's starting early with lots of Halloween freebies. Here's a round-up:

Wear your Halloween costume to Krispy Kreme on Oct. 31 and you'll be treated to a FREE doughnut. Now that's a worthwhile stop on the trick-or-treat route!

You'll have your choice of a Halloween or pumpkin spice doughnut.

Click here to find a Krispy Kreme doughnut near you.

No purchase necessary!

Rent a Halloween movie this week and Redbox will treat you to a discount on a second movie.

Here's how the deal works:

Mark your calendars for Sunday, Oct. 23. Take your kids to CVS dressed in their Halloween costumes on that day and they'll receive  FREE candy and toys and you'll get FREE coupons.

Buying trick-or-treat candy can be, well, tricky.

If you're like me, you want to be generous to the kids who ring your bell. But you don't want your generosity to cost you a quarter of your weekly grocery budget either.

Expect a busy weekend in Chapel Hill.

Though the town and university has managed to scale back the formerly nutso Halloween festivities on Franklin Street, it will surely still draw a crowd.

Plus, it's homecoming weekend at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Linda Convissor, UNC-CH's local relations director, has distributed this email to members of the community.

Dear Friends and Neighbors:
 
This will be a busy weekend in Chapel Hill.  It’s Homecoming Weekend, with reunions beginning on Friday and running through Sunday afternoon.
 
On Saturday the Tar Heels will take on the William and Mary Tribe.  Kick-off is at 3:30 p.m. Tar Heel Town will open at 12:30 p.m.,  the Old Well Walk is at 1:00 p.m. and the Marching Tar Heels will play at 2:30 p.m. 

  Even if you are not attending the game, the pre-game festivities downtown and Tar Heel Town on Polk Place are open to everyone.
 
Sunday night is Chapel Hill’s Homegrown Halloween.  You may remember from last year that Chapel Hill is working with the University and downtown businesses to make the Halloween gathering on Franklin Street a safer event for everyone. 

Access to downtown will be limited, parking restricted and bus schedules and routes adjusted.  If you plan to go downtown, please check the Town’s website www.townofchapelhill.org/Halloween for details.

As in past years, the plan this year is to restrict traffic access to downtown Chapel Hill through lane and street closures starting at 9 p.m. Parking essentially will be unavailable downtown. There will be no special event park-and-ride bus shuttles, although Safe Ride buses will operate for Carolina students.

To limit alcohol sales downtown, restaurants and bars will close to new patrons at 1 a.m., and downtown convenience stores that sell alcohol will either close or stop selling alcohol at 1 a.m.

Police will begin to open Franklin Street to traffic at 11:30 p.m. with the expectation that it will be fully opened by midnight.

If you are a neighborhood or community group contact, please share this email with your members.
 
Best for a fun an safe Halloween and of course, Go Heels!
 
Linda

Jack-o-lantern creator Noel Dickover was recently splashed by NPR for one his latest creations. This Halloween, Dickover may have the droid you are looking for. It took over 10 hours of carving on the 40-pound pumpkin to create the R2-D2.

With some help with his family, Dickover is fervently carving as many pumpkins as he can for his display, and the Centreville, Va. drive is feasible from the Triangle ... even more so if you happen to be going through the D.C. metro area.

Other works for this year include a Hellraiser Pinhead and the Mad Hatter. The carver's Death Star jack-o-lantern first appeared in 2006. It was created from a massive 120 pounder taking 9 hours of carving.

Check out the gallery to see these and other amazing jack-o-lanterns. He shares tips and templates at his site FantasyPumpkins.com.

Gallery: Tech Junkie: Jack-O-Lanterns

This Sunday, Giorgio in Cary will celebrate the season with a “Nose to Tail” dinner featuring a variety of offal dishes. Details are still being worked out, but the preliminary menu includes deep-fried lamb brains, roasted bone marrow and fennel-crusted sweetbreads.

Check the Events tab at the restaurant’s website for a sneak peek at the other ghoulish delights in store - if you dare!

Price is $35 per person. Call 650-2137 for reservations.

Glenn Boyette's success turning his Clayton farm into a holiday entertainment destination has garnered some national attention.

Boyette was the first example in a front-page Wall Street Journal story today about farmers nationwide making money from "agri-tainment" by adding haunted houses, corn mazes and more.

Boyette, 58, told the newspaper that he took over the farm from an uncle in the late 1980s and over time saw profits dry up. Four years ago, he decided to try something new.

Now his 150-acre farm on Loop Road in Johnston County is home to Clayton Fear Farm, a collection of three haunted houses, corn maze, pumpkin patch and other Halloween attractions. In a couple of months, it will switch to Lights on the Neuse, a winter wonderland of blinking lights and decorations.