A haunting good time
It wouldn’t be Halloween without getting a little scared and there was no better place to do just that and have a little fun at the same time than the annual Wooster Parks and Recreation haunted hayride at Freedlander Park.Between Oct. 16 and 17, nearly 1,500 children and their families from throughout Wayne County converged on Freedlander Park for goodies, activities, music and the chance to board a hay wagon for an eerie hayride that wound its way through a haunted enchanted forest filled with scary scenes.
According to Susan Kelley, of the parks and rec department, the Wooster tradition of gathering for some good old-fashioned Halloween fun began in 1987, as a Halloween party with costume judging at the old Wooster High School and later at the College of Wooster. It wasn’t until 1992 that the event moved to Freedlander Park where the hayride was added.
Ashley Brillhart, of parks and rec, said the task of planning the scenes and organizing the hayride aspect of the event falls to hayride coordinator Deb Griffith, who began work on the project shortly after last year’s event.
“Deb spends a lot of time planning the scenes and rounding up actors for them,” said Brillhart. While the parks and rec staff constructed their own sets for the first few years of the event, the Ohio Light Opera (OLO) later graciously stepped forward to offer their unneeded sets after the close of their summer festival season.
“Once the Ohio Light Opera puts out their schedule for the summer, we can coordinate with their people to figure out what props we would like,” said Brillhart. When the OLO season ends in August, parks and rec picks up the sets and stores them in a warehouse provided by D&S Distribution.
“The parks and recreation staff begins working on the event about a month out - transporting props and equipment, building sets, booking chalet activity groups, rounding up volunteers and decorating the chalet and surrounding area,” said Brillhart.
Manning the elaborately decorated scenes tucked throughout Freedlander Park for the 17th annual haunted hayride were actors from “the Wooster High School girls soccer team, the Rittman High School Drama Club, Dave Griffith, the Arbogast and Stewart families, members of the Brookway neighborhood, Dave Handlin, Laura Underwood and many other volunteers,” said Brillhart.
While waiting for their turn to board the hay wagons, which were provided by the Glenn and Karen Burkholder family, participants were able to warm themselves by a bonfire and enjoy hot chocolate provided by the Masons and bounce around in a giant inflatable.
Inside the Freedlander Chalet, face painting was provided by members of the College of Wooster Circle K group and musical entertainment was coordinated by the Wayne County Performing Arts Council (WaCPAC). Included in the entertainment lineup was the Unsung Heroes, one of the top-rated bands from last spring’s WaCPAC/Parks and Rec Battle of the Bands competition, along with soloists from WaCPAC’s popular Music of the Night Open Mic Night events – Jennifer Allen, Jill Jordon (Burke), Charlotte Gladulich and Rebekah Gerber.
The haunted hayrides were sponsored by Kohl’s Department Store, whose A-Team members volunteered their time for the event. Parks and rec also gave out little ghoul bags for children and coupons for parents, courtesy of area businesses.