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.

Halloween fest plans coming together

The traditional Halloween fest activities are still in the planning stages, but organizers anticipate another successful night at the end of October.

The festival has been fixture in Prince Rupert for almost twenty years now, an opportunity to provide a safe environment for youngsters on Halloween, with a number of activities planned for the Civic Centre and Earl Mah Aquatic Centre.

In addition to the games and treats, the always popular fireworks program is planned for that evening at 8:15 pm.

The organizers are still looking for volunteers and details on the nights events and how people can help out were provided in Friday's Daily News.

Festival targets fun as its main ghoul
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Friday, October 05, 2007

Nearly 20 years after it's inception, organizers of Prince Rupert's Halloween Fest hope to once again put together a successful event, but they will need help from the community.

As Halloween quickly approaches, Constables Rebecca Scarlett and Jana Starr, along with other volunteer organizers, are trying to rally even more community support, although the generosity shown so far has been great.

"Every year, we donate money and it gives the police a good start," said Manny Richards, one of many Moose Lodge men who helped raise $750 for this year's event.

"It's important for the children, and that's what the Moose Lodge is all about."

Similarly, Ladies of the Moose donated money to help fund another fun-filled Halloween for Prince Rupert youth, and representative Adella Eliuk knows that making the night safer for everyone is important.

"It's very much needed, because we need to keep kids entertained and off the streets."

Joy Sundin has been helping to organize Halloween Fest since the idea was first conceived, and believes it's still needed for the same reasons that it was a good idea 20 years ago.

"There was a need in the community due to the vandalism and the property damage, so a few people got together and asked 'What can we do?'" explained Sundin. "The police came on board, and right off the bat it just mushroomed.

"We built it to have the youth groups and older students in the community come and put the event on, so they get the idea, the attitude and atmosphere that this is a day of fun for children and for them to give something back to their community."

In 2005, the RCMP was pleased to report only 15 minor calls on Halloween night, most of which calls that did not even end up as files. Instead, nearly 5,000 packed the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre for a night of frightful fun for people of all ages.

This year's Halloween Fest is scheduled to include many of the familiar activities of past years, such as a haunted house put on by Treena Decker and a group from the Harbour Theatre, a Haunted Swim in the Civic Centre pool, a dunk-tank, pizza and pop, as well as enough candy to supply every kid in Prince Rupert.

"We're still trying to organize more volunteers and donations in order to coordinate all the events we have planned," said Constable Starr. "We're really looking for all the help we can get."
There will be a bus running throughout the evening to take everybody to and from the civic centre, and the Prince Rupert Fire Department will be playing the pyro-technical role and setting off the big fireworks display scheduled to commence at 8:15 p.m.

Volunteers are encouraged to attend the next Halloween Fest Volunteer Committee meeting at noon on Wed. Oct. 10 in the Community Policing Centre in the lower level of city hall.

Kids are also encouraged to call the Halloween Fest hotline at 62-GHOST, where they can suggest ideas for games or activities they'd like to see at this year's event.