Activities for ghouls and goblins galore

As Halloween draws closer the plans for a number of local events are almost complete.

Two separate activities are planned to help set the mood for All Hallows night, one for the littlest of trick and treaters and another for those a little further down the age scale.

Tuesday night sees a Haunted House for the under ten age group set to open at the Tom Rooney Playhouse put on by the Hecate Strait Rotary Club and the group at the Tom Rooney playhouse. Last years event, which had little to no advance advertising attracted some 75 participants and organizers are hopeful for even larger numbers on the night before Halloween.

On the big night itself once again the focus will be on the Civic Centre, where a number of activities are planned for Halloween fest. Those that are under the age of 12 can take in the free swim from 3:30 to 5:00 pm and then enjoy the Costume Party from 6 until 8 including lots of free candy, food and drink.

The always popular Fireworks will take place at 8:15 with viewing best over the sports fields and golf course area.

This year there is special attention focused on teenagers at the Earl Mah Aquatic Centre, where a special teen swim is set to start from 7 pm and go on through the evening, with a number of organized games planned from 8:00 to 9:30 pm.

The Friday Daily News had two stories on the events planned for this week.

Night before Halloween will set the stage
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Friday, October 26, 2007

Kids will be helping kids next week thanks to the Hecate Strait Rotary's Haunted House.
"For the second year in a row the Hecate Strait Rotary Club is holding it's Haunted House for kids, and it's in partnership with the Tom Rooney Theatre gang," said Ann Jackson, Rotary past president and the chair of this year's Haunted House event.

"It's geared for the under-10 crowd, so it's really for the younger kids."

The haunted house will be inside the Tom Rooney Playhouse on Third Avenue on Tues., Oct. 30, from 4 to 7 p.m.

"We had a really great time last year," said Jackson. "I think the Rotarians had even more fun than the kids."

With minimal advertisement, last year's Haunted House was well attended with around 75 kids and parents going through, but Jackson hopes to see even more families out for this year's event. Hecate Strait members and the Harbour Theatre group have been busy organizing the night, and will be spending time preparing for Tuesday night at the end of this weekend.
"It's two dollars for kids, and the adults who come with them are free," she said. "We also have a treat bag for the kids at the end of it as well."

Once again this year, all the money raised from the Haunted House will go toward one of the Rotary's youth-sponsored programs.

"This year, we're targetting the Everyone Gets To Play, so we can have underprivileged kids be able to use the recreational facilities around town," said Jackson. "Our club is geared towards all youth programs, but we want to make sure we support that and give back as much as we can to the community."

With so much going on for Halloween, parents might be thinking they'll have to choose between taking kids to the Rotary Haunted House and Halloween Fest at the Civic Centre.

"Absolutely not, we've been trying to work together for a couple years but it's so involved that we haven't quite got there," Jackson said.

"Our thing is a little smaller scaled and little more controllable for the amount of people we have, but a lot of fun."

On Tues., Oct. 30, the public is welcome to go to the Tom Rooney Playhouse between 4 and 7 p.m. for what's sure to be a fun time for kids and parents alike.

"We had so much fun last year, we're pretty sure we'll have a good turnout this year," said Jackson, who notes that kids are encouraged to wear their costumes if they can. "It would be great if in the spirit of things, kids could dress up and get in gear for the next day too."

Halloween event set to make a big splash
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Friday, October 26, 2007

Kendal Sheppard wants every teenager in Prince Rupert to be at Halloween Fest this year, and he is making preparations to accommodate them all.

"I'm calling out to teens to let them know what's out there for them on Halloween night," said Sheppard.

"We've got a haunted house, lots of games with prizes for each one, and pizza and pop at the end of the night with the award ceremony."

Sheppard is the Earl Mah Aquatic Centre's full-time lifeguard and organizer of this year's poolside portion of Halloween Fest, and he has been busy making all the arrangements to get as many teens to take part as possible.

"There's a bus service from city transit running from 6 until 8:45 to the civic centre and the pool, and taking people away as well," said Sheppard.

"There's been a lot of donations from local businesses already, but I'd like to ask any other businesses that would like to contribute prizes to the teen swim and encourage them to get off the street to get ahold of me."

Sheppard said the prizes available for participating teens this year are phenomenal, and those that attend for the full three hours of Halloween Fest will be amazed by what they'll be eligible to win. The list of businesses that have donated prizes for the teen portion of Halloween Fest include Loaded Sports, Javadotcup, Hairtech Studio, Salty Crab, Tangles, Leanne's Pet Shop, Shames Mountain, Totem Lanes Bowling, JVA Family Entertainment, East Wind Emporium, Subway, 7-Eleven, Cowpuccinos, Farwest, Envy, Concrete, the Prince Rupert Men's Floor Hockey League, and the Earl Mah Aquatic Centre.

The Teen Swim begins promptly at 7 p.m., with the Haunted House running for a half-hour. When teens exit the Haunted House, there will be roaming games for them to play for an hour, followed by organized games.

"Roaming games will be the dunk tank, gut-grab for eyeballs, octopus tentacle escape, pumpkin basketball shoot, water polo skull shoot, and that's just those games," said Sheppard.

"The organized games from 8 to 9:30 will be things like the diving board competition, pumpkin raft wars, barrel wave wars, pumpkin removal, the dead man relay, and if there's any water balloons left over, we have a water balloon fight."

After all the games and excitement, everyone gets free pizza and pop, and the prizes are given out to all the night's top performers in the games Sheppard said.

"We're expecting to see 60 teenagers, but I'd love to see more," he said. "For some of the prizes, and I won't say which ones, they're based on attendance. So just for being there from 7 to 10, teens will be able to win some of our bigger prizes."

Sheppard says there's no problems if teens show up late because there will be plenty of prizes to be had by participating in games, and plenty of candy to go around.

With six lifeguards on hand, and high school volunteers helping out, he's sure the night will be well supervised and a good time for all the teenagers who come out. As long as participants are between 13 and 18 years of age.

"Let's just say everybody should have a chance of winning something, but any other businesses that want to contribute can get ahold of me at 627-7437 and leave me a message," said Sheppard.