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Haunted house to open Saturday
Nevada Daily Mail
Fall is here and that means Halloween with its accompanying spooks and goblins and haunted houses. And that means it's time for the ghosts and ghouls of Washington Manor to scare the dickens out of anyone who passes through its doors.
This is the fourth year that the haunted house in the 300 block of North Washington Street in Nevada has been set up, decorated and manned by the employees of the Vernon County Ambulance District. It is the major fundraising event they use each year to finance their annual Christmas toy drive.
According to VCAD Director James McKenzie, the proceeds from the haunted house last year covered about 50 percent of the toy drive cost. The annual toy drive provides toys for 500 local children and it is the charity VCAD is most devoted to helping.
To that end, they began the haunted house with the bare essentials. It has grown over the four years to be a major attraction in the city during this season. Almost 1,000 people went through the house last year. Up to this point a good portion of the money raised from the house went back into the house.
The house was brought up to code in every aspect and safety is the first consideration. It has a complete fire suppression system and everything in the house is sprayed with fire retardent prior to opening; everything.
The configuration has changed every year but the goal of scaring the daylights out of people has remained the same. This year the group was able to use some of their money to buy some props. There are a lot of new things this year said McKenzie, and employees have been busy getting the house ready. VCAD employee Jeri Senkevech said, "we're having fun," as she showed off one of the new scary props they chose for the house.
There have been thousands of man hours and thousands of dollars of materials donated to the house in the past and that continues. Denise Hopkins has "kind of" been in charge of the house this year and said "trying to keep everybody on track has been challenging." Hopkins said between different skill levels, ideas and time management it has been interesting. She also said it had "been a lot of fun."
There is something in the house for everyone and it will be open into early November. One of the popular aspects of the house is a "no spook" day where the house can be toured while it is well lit and without a spook or ghost or ghoul of any kind jumping out at you or your child. McKenzie said adults like the no spook day as much as the little children. The no spook day at the manor this year is Saturday, Oct. 26 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and the cost is $3 per person. Motorists should be aware that there may be some street closings during this haunting season, especially on no spook day.
The rest of the time, street closings will depend on conditions. Regular hours for the haunted house will begin tomorrow and run through Nov. 2. The spooks will be roaming the darkened halls every night Saturday through Friday from 7 p.m. until midnight. Closing times can vary according to the crowd. The house will not be open on Sunday or Monday.
The ticket price of $10 per adult and $5 for anyone under 12 remains the same as last year. There is one difference this year. Any one who signs up to be part of the Governor's 100 Missouri Miles Challenge while at the haunted house gets $2 off their ticket price. Cerner has agreed to pay the difference.
McKenzie encourages everyone to come out and have some fun. He said his employees and volunteers have just as much fun as visitors to the house. "We feed off the enthusiasm of the public," he said. Come on out and have some good wholesome fun with us.