Road paved with

Special events bring communities together

By BY WAYNE BRYAN Staff Writer

LITTLE ROCK — Halloween was once confined to children dressing up and visiting a few houses in the neighborhood or wearing their costumes to school.

Nowadays, the spooky night in harvest season

has become more often a community event, bringing people of all ages together to welcome the fall and enjoy the fun, frights and pails of candy.

Almost every community in the region hosts a special seasonal event from now until the beginning of November. There will be enough haunted houses, festivals and enough opportunities for trick or treating for everyone.

Holland Chapel Baptist Church in Benton offers a spiritually frightening experience with its HereAfter House that opens Saturday. The exhibition takes its visitors from a devastating disaster to a hospital and then to heaven and hell.

“It depicts what the believe the afterlife will be,” said Nick Calaway, student pastor at the church. “The story tells people there are reasons you end up where you do and that depends on the choice you make in life.” HereAfter House is open from 4-8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 25, and from 6-8 p.m.

Monday, Oct. 26, through Wednesday, Oct. 28, at the church at 15523 Interstate 30.

The Artchurch of Hot Springs will present its annual Drive-in Movie night Saturday outside the studios at 310 Whittington Ave. The event will be strictly BYOP, bring your own pumpkin, Artchurch proprietor Mark Menefee said. A pumpkin gutting, as Menefee called it, will start the activities at 6 p.m. Tools will be provided. Following the lighting of the Jack-O-Lanterns, there will be a potluck dinner. The outdoor movies begin with animation features from the digital design students of Hot Springs High School, followed by the comedy classic Young Frankenstein. The event is the fall membership drive,and there is no admission, but donations are accepted.

Benton changes its name and becomes Spook City on Tuesday, Oct. 27, for a large Halloween carnival that will cover four downtown blocks just off the downtown square. This is the fourth year for the events and is expected to draw more than 8,000 people, said Lisa Baldwin, event coordinator for Downtown Benton, Inc., the business association for the historic district.

The carnival will include games and other activities for the young and more than 100 vendors, many passing out treats for the entire family.

“There will be a costume show for the kids, a petting zoo and live entertainment,” Baldwin said.

Spook City comes alive from 6-9 p.m., and admission is free.

Monster Madness at Mills is a joint effort by the Bryant Chamber of Commerce, the Br yant Parks Department and the Boys and Girls Club of Bryant. This year the Mills Park event will start at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29, and features the Haunted Trail Hay Ride and Munchkinland. There will be trick or treating along an avenue of booths set up by area business, along with refreshments and a costume contest. Admission to the hayride will be $5 and $3 for Munchkinland. All proceeds benefit the Boys and Girls Club.

In Malvern, The READ Haunted House offers 10,000 square feet of scary scenes and startling frights on Friday and Saturday night through Halloween night. Located at 123Locust St., the local literacy program known as READ, Reading Education ADvancement, sponsors the event, said Vickie McNees of the Literacy Council of Hot Spring County. The house opens at 7 p.m., and admission is $6 for adults and $3 for children 12 and under.

Another Halloween experience is scheduled at Lake Ouachita State Park in Mountain Pine. On Friday, Oct. 30, there will be a hayride at Three Sisters Springs. Admission is $5 per person. On Halloween night there will be a nighttime boat ride that will include the telling of the legend of theHaunting of Crystal Hollow. Admission is $20. Other activities throughout the weekend will include arts and crafts, ga mes a nd face painting. Those events are free.

Salineoween, a day-long celebration, will be held at the Saline County Fairgrounds on Halloween in Benton. Beginning at 10 a.m., there will be rides, games, a rock-climbing wall and a trickor-treat walk for children.

“It’s an old-fashioned fun kind of day and a safe place for the family to go ,” said Yvonne Dougherty, president of the board of directors for Salineoween.

At 6 p.m., the mood changes and a series of bands perform until midnight.

This is the first year for the event, raising funds for Within REACH. Doughtery said the name stands for Redirection, Education, Advocation, Counseling and Housing.

“It is a program for the homeless aged 16 to 21. There are a lot of homeless people out there in that age group,” Dougherty said. “We try to get them in the program, educate them, help them find a job and transition them to a home of their own.”

Tickets for the daytimefestival are $2 for children 6 to 12 and $3 for ages 13 and up. Tickets for the concert that are good for the festival as well are $12. The fairgrounds are at 403 Fairfield Road.

Lake Catherine State Park near Hot Springs will also offer Halloween activities on Saturday, Oct. 31.

Halloween treats will be available at the Pavilion. Then join a hayride to a haunted Ha lloween hike featuring ghosts, bats and more. Call (501) 844-4176 for times and details.

- wbryan@ arkansasonline.com

Tri-Lakes, Pages 137 on 10/18/2009

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