This was a good year for pop culture.

Children could have dressed up this year as everything from Black Panther to My Little Pony to whatever “Fortnight” thing a parent could be convinced to make.

So a huge cheers to every single child who was willing to cast that aside, and represent something from our still-great city of San Francisco. Whether it’s one of the growing trend of Muni costumes or another S.F. landmark, Total SF co-founder Heather Knight and I were thrilled to see each entry.

Our winner is below. But first, a couple of honorable mentions, including a shout-out to Lareina Chu and her son Caden (featured at the top of this page).

Heather and I adored this costume from Yvette Ramirez and her 2-year-old daughter Emi, who is dressed as the 67 Bernal Heights, a lovely neighborhood line Heather and I both enjoyed during Total Muni 2018.

Yvette writes: “My daughter, Emi, and I use public transportation to get around all of San Francisco and the Bay Area – and we love it! In fact, when friends offer us a ride, I usually turn them down, knowing that by the time they’ve gotten through traffic and found parking, I’ll already be at my destination through BART, MUNI, or just walking! Emi is dressed as a 67 MUNI (her favorite bus line) and I am dressed as our handy dandy Clipper card. PS: We are both a dying breed: San Francisco natives!”

Yvette and Emi are an honorable mention.

We also enjoyed this costume from Alexis Doucette, who sent in 6-year-old Andy as San Francisco Fleet Week.

This is where kids are great. Not “I want to be a pilot.” Not “I want to be a Blue Angel.” Andy wanted all of it — the five planes, the skyline, the rad aviator glasses — and executed the whole thing perfectly.

Andy is an honorable mention.

Solomon Sperry and his brother Milo have been dressing at San Francisco landmarks since at least 2015.

Solomon went solo this year as the Ferry Building, overcoming the landmark’s shape limitations by making his arms the wings of the building. (He could make a few small changes, and re-use this as an owl costume next year.)

As it is with a lot of these kid costumes over the years, the genius is in the details. Note the orange “PORT OF SAN FRANCISCO” redesigned to say “TRICK OR TREAT.”

Honorable mention. Hope you’re both back next year — and keep paying tribute to San Francisco into old age.

And now, for our winner …

All of the Total SF love to Nga Ly and her family, who had a local viral moment when they dressed up in a group BART costume — complete with a train, map, turnstile and little baby Clipper card. The San Francisco residents deserved all the attention they received.

BART and Muni both have their problems, but they’re like the dysfunctional relatives who can drive us crazy or arrive late for a gathering (or, technically, show up three times in a four-minute span and then disappear). In the end, they still feel like family.

Nga wrote to us: “We had no idea our costume would be such a hit! My husband sewed all of it, using mostly felt, ribbon, a glue gun, and a sewing machine. He only spent $35 on all of the materials. Many people on Halloween asked if I sewed it but I loved saying that my husband did (the creative genius, the man that holds up our family as much as mom does 🙂

“Our 3-year-old son Mason wanted to be a BART train this year because he loves riding BART with his grandpa and us. So Mitch decided to make a family costume and the rest of us became the important pieces of a BART station.”

Congratulations to Nga, Mitch and family – our 2018 Total SF Halloween Costume Contest winner and recipient of the $250 costume prize!

(That will pay for a lot of rides to Warm Springs/South Fremont.)