Each year, Orange Township hosts an annual Fright Fight contest where residents submit their Halloween decorations for voting. In past years, the team managed submissions through Gravity Forms on their website, then manually coordinated with residents to collect photos and create a separate community voting form. While the event was always a local favorite, managing multiple disconnected systems made the process time-consuming and difficult to track. The township needed a more unified solution that could verify addresses within township boundaries, streamline approvals for entries and media, and make participation accessible for both residents and administrators.
To address these needs, we developed a holiday decoration contest app that combines accessibility, gamification, and smart administration tools. Homeowners register by submitting their name, email, phone number, and address to ensure eligibility within township boundaries. Once entries are submitted, admins review and approve both the submissions and any uploaded media. Approved homes appear on a map (with markers styled to look like candy corn) and in a gallery of all contestants. Voting began on October 17, and participants can vote directly from the gallery on the platform, or through entries shared online by homeowners themselves.
To protect privacy, the app displays addresses without personal identifying information. On the technical side, submitted media is securely stored using Amazon S3, and the Radar API manages geolocation to confirm eligible entries. We accelerated development through the integration of Claude code with GitHub. This allows Claude to generate issues such as “media upload,” propose solutions, and open pull requests, enabling fast iteration and easy review by the team. Using these AI tools significantly decreases time for the development team and cost for Orange Township. The platform is also designed to be flexible, so it can be restyled for other seasonal events, such as winter holiday lights, without rebuilding from scratch.
The new Fright Fight platform has transformed the way Orange Township engages its community during Halloween. Residents can easily participate, share their decorated homes, and feel part of a township-wide celebration. Admins maintain full control over submissions and media, ensuring contest integrity and saving time. The integrated AI-powered development workflow has accelerated coding, testing, and iteration, allowing the team to quickly implement feedback and roll out updates. By making contest participation simple, secure, and fun, the app has strengthened community connections and created a scalable model for future seasonal events.
