The candy has been bought and the decorations are being hung at Pioneer Park for the annual Fall Party, Friday, Oct. 31. The party was officially scheduled after talk of doing away with the event because there was no group to run it prompted two Annandale High School students to step forward. Juniors Ben Efron and J.T. Grundy will work with Lori Alman and Mary Barkley Brown to keep the 14-year Pioneer Park tradition going. “It’s a huge load off my shoulders,” said Alman, who last year spent more than 100 hours organizing the event, which attracted more than 1,100 kids. Despite generous donations of time and money from the community on the night of the event, Alman and Brown were doing most of the organizational and set-up work themselves. “It was just too much work for two people,” Brown said in September. Efron and Grundy, who had either attended or volunteered to work at the fall party since its early days, heard about the possible cancelation and were spurred into action. “We got angry and thought, ‘We can’t let this happen,’” Efron said. “So we called up Lori and Mary and asked if we could help out in any way.” The two will be revamping the haunted village, making it scarier and building new props. Alman will still be in charge of rounding up the donations and volunteers. Last year the party drew 140 volunteers the night of the event and $3,000 in donations. Approximately 33,000 pieces of candy were given away. For two weeks Efron and Grundy have been working non-stop to improve the display in Pioneer Park’s Pioneer Village. Traditionally the haunted village has been open to all ages, but this year they will gear it more toward older kids while the rest of the park will be open to the younger crowd. “I wanted Halloween to be fun for teenagers too, not just little kids,” said Grundy. Each building in Pioneer Village will be the site of a mini-horror skit Halloween night. With the help of family members and friends, the two teens will turn the 19th century village into a haunted tour where anything is possible. The game barn on the hill will be there as usual for those not interested in the scarier side of Halloween, as will candy along the trails. Alman hopes to do a Wizard of Oz theme in the old Finnish Church, and the one-room school house will have games or a skit. There will be sloppy joes with chips in the basement of the Big Woods Museum as well as cookies and cider. Thanks to donations, there is no admission to the park Oct. 31. “We’re very excited about this,” said Grundy and Efron. “We both intend on doing this again in the future.” For two weeks Efron and Grundy have been working non-stop to improve the display in Pioneer Park’s Pioneer Village. Traditionally the haunted village has been open to all ages, but this year they will gear it more toward older kids while the rest of the park will be open to the younger crowd. “I wanted Halloween to be fun for teenagers too, not just little kids,” said Grundy. Each building in Pioneer Village will be the site of a mini-horror skit Halloween night. With the help of family members and friends, the two teens will turn the 19th century village into a haunted tour where anything is possible. The game barn on the hill will be there as usual for those not interested in the scarier side of Halloween, as will candy along the trails. Alman hopes to do a Wizard of Oz theme in the old Finnish Church, and the one-room school house will have games or a skit. There will be sloppy joes with chips in the basement of the Big Woods Museum as well as cookies and cider. Thanks to donations, there is no admission to the park Oct. 31. “We’re very excited about this,” said Grundy and Efron. “We both intend on doing this again in the future.”
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