Harvest Party offers cake walk, hay rides
The Haines Harvest Party has been resurrected by a group of volunteers dedicated to providing family-friendly fun on Halloween.
The Harvest Party will run from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Halloween in the elementary school gym. It will include games, photo booths, a hay ride, cake walk and other activities.
Salvation Army Lt. Mary Kyle, who has been holding volunteer meetings to organize the event, said the goal is to provide a fun, safe gathering for families.
“My aim was kicking off the holidays, having healthy family time, and building bonds in the community,” Kyle said.
A rumor started circulating around town that Kyle was spearheading resurrection of the harvest festival, which ran for a couple years before petering out.
“I was at the store and people were like, ‘I heard you were doing the harvest party, I heard you were doing the harvest party,’ so I just decided to do it,” Kyle said. “I’m the one who started it off, and then it just went like a freight train.”
The party will also feature “trick or trunk,” which starts at 7 p.m.
“(People) decorate their vehicle trunks and if they don’t want to miss out on the trick or treaters at home, they can bring their candy down there and give out their candy that way. It’s almost like a parade of trick or treaters,” Kyle said.
Families can take photographs against a decorated, fall scene backdrop, then stop by the small bouncy house and play with their little ones in the toddler area.
Attendees are encouraged to bring something for the finger food table, so those who win the cake walk aren’t the only ones with goodies to snack on.
Call Kyle at 303-2345 to volunteer. Organizers are still looking for donations of baked goods and game prizes.
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Fairgrounds to host monster gala
The Southeast Alaska State Fair invites boys and ghouls of all ages and varieties to a Monsters Ball at Harriett Hall 6:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 31, complete with a spooky dinner buffet, costume contest and fortune telling.
Live music, provided by the God Particles, starts at 7:30 p.m.
Fair director Jessica Edwards said this will be the fair’s first Halloween bash.
“Last year there wasn’t a whole lot going on in the earlier part of the afternoon, and we’ve been thinking about a fall event and this worked out well timing-wise,” Edwards said.
The Monsters Ball fits in nicely between the youth-oriented Haines Harvest Party and adult-themed costume parties at the bars, Edwards said.
“We’re trying to fit in before activities downtown,” she said. “We’re the early ‘Come eat, do some dancing, and go out later’ event.”
Admission is $5, but food, beer and wine will cost extra.
The spooky dinner buffet will include “worms and brains,” “zombie fingers” and other tasty treats.
Resident Kristine Harder will also be telling party-goers’ fortunes.
“It was the perfect opportunity to tap the talents of our local fortune teller,” Edwards said.
Though the event is family friendly, those under 21 should have an adult with them, she said.
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Horrors in store at Uglys haunted house
The Uglys of Haines are putting on their annual haunted house again this Halloween, though the theme is being kept a secret.
The Uglys will be transforming the ANB Hall into the Haines House of Horrors, a walkthrough-style haunted house full of scream-worthy surprises and creepy characters.
The haunted house will run from roughly 7 to 9 p.m. on Halloween night.
Last year’s “killer clown” theme was a big hit, said club president Chuck Mitman, but he wouldn’t drop any hints on what this year’s theme might be.
“We always try to make it a little different,” he said. This is the fourth year the Uglys will be putting on a haunted house in Haines.
Several people said last year’s haunted house was too scary for small children, Mitman said. But that’s what haunted houses are supposed to be.
“At first some people were suggesting we do something for the little kids because (last year) it was too scary for them, but that is what the harvest party does,” Mitman said, referring to the Haines Harvest Party, a more kid-friendly event also taking place on Halloween.
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3-D ghouls to visit library
The ghosts of the Headless Horseman, Flying Dutchman and Bloody Mary will be visiting the Haines library at 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 30, for a Halloween-themed event for teens.
The group will be reading “Horrible Hauntings,” an interactive book that uses an iPad application to summon and interact with 3-D ghosts.
Jessie Morgan, the library’s education and cultural coordinator, said the facility’s lights will be turned down and the iPad will be hooked up to a projector to enhance the ghoulish encounters.
“It’s going to be a spooky experience,” Morgan said.
The library will use the event as an opportunity to gauge interest in a regular teen book club, Morgan said.
At 5 p.m., local author Mark Zeiger will take over and read ghost stories. He’ll also share the tale of his personal encounter with a “ghost.”
Zeiger, author of “Shy Ghosts Dancing: Dark Tales from Southeast Alaska” will also lead an informal discussion on fear: what makes us afraid, what we’re afraid of, and why.
While the “Horrible Hauntings” event is specifically for teenagers, everyone is encouraged to attend the scary stories with Zeiger, Morgan said.
Snacks will be available.
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Zombies to overrun town Friday
Residents looking to get into the Halloween spirit early this year can walk and run for their lives during Friday’s 5K Zombie Walk/Run, starting in Dalton City at 5:30 p.m.
The event is sponsored by the Southeast Alaska State Fair and SEARHC. Entry fee is $10.
The “zombie run” is taking the place of the fair’s annual Trick or Trot, which usually happens closer to Halloween.
Race organizers will be holding a “zombie clinic” at 5 p.m. before the race for anyone who needs help with their make-up.
People with zombie make-up supplies are asked to bring them to the race. That includes fake blood, fake wounds, gray make-up, black lipstick and black eye shadow.
The race isn’t an “adventure run,” Edwards said. The course is just a casual run of the town loop and doesn’t include obstacles or zombies in pursuit, she added.