Friends,

October starts today! Leaves are starting to fall. Cooler temperatures are coming. Walked through Ballwin Target the other night and they have tons of Halloween candy, lots of costumes, pumpkins, pumpkin muffins, and pumpkin lattes are back at the Starbuck’s in Target!

Ballwin’s Halloween celebration begins on Friday, October 24th with our annual Halloween Hullaballo at the Point starting at 5:30. This year’s event includes a Chili Cook-off, pitting the Mayor and Aldermen against the City Departments. Since I only cook on a barbeque grill, Alderman Jim Lehmkuhl will represent your elected officials. Chief Bergfeld will be representing the Police Department, Director Link will be cooking for the Public Works Department and other city employees will be joining in the fun! Bring your family to this free event and join the Halloween fun and vote for your favorite chili!

Fall is beautiful in Ballwin. It's a great time to walk around our neighborhoods and reconnect with neighbors and friends. Chances are good you may see your neighbors in their yards raking up leaves. Remember, free leave pick-up begins on October 27th.

All leaves piled at the edge of your yard will be picked up by our awesome Public Works Department. You can help them do their job more efficiently by not piling your leaves in the street. Also, make sure no one parks in front of the leaf piles. If a car is between the leaf vacuum and the leaves, we can’t pick-up your leaves.

Ballwin is one of the safest cities to live in the nation, but we need your help to keep it that way. As cooler temperatures arrive, and fall turns to winter, we will all be spending less time outside. This makes it easier for thieves to come into our neighborhoods without being noticed! All of us need to do our part to keep our neighborhood safe. Don’t leave your keys in your car. Don’t leave valuable visible in your car. Above all, LOCK YOUR CAR! In almost all recent cases of thefts from cars, the cars were left unlocked.

Plus, be sure to close your garage door at night. Our officers do a great job patrolling our neighborhoods, but they can’t be everywhere. If you see something suspicious, or something that doesn’t look right on your street, call the police and have them check it out. You can call the non-emergency number at 636-227-2951 and the Police will come and check it out.

Your elected officials and staff are in the midst of finalizing the 2026 Ballwin Budget. It is a matter of balancing city needs with available funds. Want to learn more? Join us for our budget meeting on October 13th at 6 p.m.

Finally, you can help support our city and keep our taxes low. As you start your holiday shopping, please consider shopping in Ballwin! Plus, if you are cooking in for the holiday, please patronize a Ballwin grocery store. If you are going out to celebrate the holidays or a special occasion or maybe just a quick dinner, consider dining in Ballwin! We have a wide variety of restaurants serving everything from fast food, ethnic  delicacies and other treats for your taste buds!

If you have questions about anything happening in Ballwin, or any suggestions for our  city, your elected officials want to hear from you! Our emails and phone numbers are on the city’s website under the Government tab. Let us know your thoughts!

If you have any questions or ideas to share, never hesitate to call me at 314-324-9707!

Or you can follow me on Facebook here.

I hope you and your family have a great Halloween! Hope to see you at the Hullabaloo!

Mayor Mark R. Stallmann