Family Friendly, Safe and Scary Spooktoberfest Fun

Submitted by:
Beverley Polon |

We hope you had a chance to visit the Swan Valley Communities That Care (SVCTC) Spooktober- Fest Haunted House!

It was a smashing event which offered a Halloween experience for all ages.

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There were over 1,450 visitors, who attended Spooktober-Fest at the John Deere Building over the three days of October 27, 28 and 29, 2016. All visitors were invited to engage in our fun family friendly Halloween theme.

The Haunted House event offered a parent and tot friendly entry area with Halloween décor, games, and activities hosted by Better Beginnings. This was a great area for the very young to enjoy games and the company of other young children. Lots of fun and adventure was enjoyed in this area.

From there, visitors were invited in to the Halloween tactile area created by Mrs. Zaretsky-Denischuk’s SVRSS Art Class. There were 14 stations offering the hands on discovery of what witches fingers and tongue, monster teeth and ears, and brains might feel like. Lots of squeals and screams came out of this area. In this area as well, there were Halloween games of chance, giving all an opportunity to win a pumpkin or other Halloween treats. The games were provided by the SVRSS Safe Grad Committee.

If you were brave enough to choose the 5 Cat Scary Level you travelled into the back of the building. There visitors entered a haunted area hosted by the SVRSS Rugby Group, The Average Joe’s group and the Big Woody Group, who went all out to create a truly frightening experience.

The theme of the entire area this year was the “Freak Show, Hillbilly madness and the Story Book Nightmares. “Visitors first entered the SVRSS Rugby’s frightening Freak show tour, continuing on, visitors entered the area created by a new group The Average Joe’s. They created a Hillbilly Madness maize tour that then connected to the famous Big Woody Group which took participants through 5 different story book nightmares. Priceless hours were spent towards the organization and performing at the Haunted house event.

Moving upstairs in the John Deere Bldg. Free face painting was offered to young and old, courtesy of Dana Paull- Unicorn Factory Face Painting, Maclyn Burghart, Brandy Dvorak and a couple of Stampeders Team members. There was also a pirate ship donated by ACL and a room for the children to color while waiting for their opportunity to have their faces painted.

Lastly all visitors were treated to free hot chocolate, cookies and ice cream cones generously provided by the SV Coop, Service to Seniors, and Extra Foods. Throughout all of these areas we also had the Stampeder Hockey Team player’s participation on Thursday as well as their help in the set-up and take down of the panels and hay bales and taking part in all elements of this Haunted House experience. Of course a Halloween treat was offered to all children and youth as well as an opportunity to enter a door prize for the adults. Rob McDonald also offered his photography skills to take pictures of the actor groups and the entire Halloween display effects. This 2016 Spooktober-Fest Haunted House event was a smashing success.

Community Businesses and Organizations as well as community members were very generous with their support and donations. We look forward to hosting this activity again next year. We would like to thank everyone for coming out and helping to make our Spooktober-Fest such a wonderful success.