By Times Chronicle Staff
Dark foggy walkways, eery music, spiders and cobwebs, creepy characters that move and talk, and if that’s not enough the Coyotes hockey team will be dressed up and hiding in the recesses for an extra “scare factor”.
This year’s Halloween Creepy Carnival is spearheaded by Allie Traynor, a Community Programmer based out of the Sonora Centre, along with Andrew Barnes, Lead Hand at the Sunbowl Arena who helped out on his own time.
And for the first time, a Trunk or Treat event is being organized by the Osoyoos & District Arts Council at the same venue. Kids can go through the Haunted House and when they exit there will be a row of cars where they can trick or treat along a row of cars.
Traynor notes that normally the whole recreational complex at Desert Park is utilized for the Halloween event, but because of time and resource constraints, she decided it would be best to focus just on the haunted house portion in the gymnasium.
“We think it’s a pretty good haunted house,” Traynor enthuses and the Times Chronicle agrees having had a daytime walkthrough minus the darkness, creepy music, foggy floor and live actors.
Unlike in previous years (pre-pandemic), black plastic was used to create the maze walls inside the gymnasium. That idea was quickly quashed during a meeting with the Osoyoos Fire Rescue. Also out of the question were burlap, wood pallets, and landscaping fabric.
Plan B meant pivoting to whatever they could find that would help create tall walls for the maze but was fire retardant. This ultimately included pipe and drape from Fete Events, drapery from the Archery Club and the Sun Bowl Skating Club.
A dozen or so Osoyoos Secondary School students along with the Coyotes hockey team will be dressing up and be positioned around the maze for some extra “fright factor”.
Pumpkin row features a walkway lined with pumpkins – scary to funny – carved for a Grade 12 carving contest and some from the Grade 7 class from Osoyoos Elementary School.
Andrew Barnes and Allie Traynor are ready to send some scary shivers your way.
Traynor does recommend parental discretion and adds that the first hour will feature a brighter maze and less spookiness for the younger kids below eight years.
The Elks Lodge largely funded the Haunted House with the remainder coming from the town’s special events budget.
The Creepy Carnival will be on today (Oct. 31) from 5-6 p.m. for children under eight years of age and 6-8 p.m. for children eight plus. The Trunk or Treat will be on from 6-8 p.m. Both events are free-of-charge.
