Spooky Halloween planned at Booville
Photo by MANDI BATEMAN Hardworking volunteers pose for a photo at the Second Chance Animal Adoption’s annual haunted house. From left: Freshman Ashton Williams, eighth grader William Chaney, fourth graders Sophia Jackson, Dayami Lopez, and Eva Naranjo, and freshman Evelynn Chaney.
BONNERS FERRY — Armed with a team of enthusiastic volunteers, the spooky town of Booville is coming together at Second Chance Animal Adoption for their seventh annual haunted house event.
“It is based mostly on the mine shaft,” said shelter staff Carla Clark. “The mine shaft has been there for about three years now. It was created by a lot of the band students and we really liked it and we didn’t want to tear it down, so we have been doing it like at mining community.”
They will also feature a hayride that is going to go through an area with murals that the volunteer student painted of different shops and houses.
“We did a Booville Space Needle and other weirds ones too,” said Clark. “We are trying to make it like you are going through a town. It is going to take you through this little maze and then you are going to go through Doomsburg Park, which is a little haunted park.”
One of the returning spooky entities will be something that the kids refer to as a “zeer,” a zombie deer made from paper mache and a deer carcass.
“We try to use some of the old stuff, but we have been doing a lot of renovating this year. A lot of the old Halloween stuff, like the maze and the mad science lab, got torn down,” said Clark. “We have been redoing the yard and trying to make everything nicer so we can have a fresh start.”
Clark has been working on Booville since the beginning of September. The kids started coming to volunteer about the 20th of September, working two days, every weekend, for about five hours a day.
“It is kind of hard to keep them all focused — they want to have fun — but they have been getting a lot done,” said Clark. “They have been doing a great job. We have got a great group of kids this year.”
Some of the older volunteer took a step back this year, letting the next generation take their place, like high school freshman, Evelynn Chaney, who has been involved with the annual haunted house since she was in sixth grade.
“This year I am definitely helping a lot more since we have a schedule going on every Friday and Saturday, from one to five,” said Chaney. “I like doing this to help raise money for the animals — just to try and give them a better home, because I feel that every animal should be treated equally, with all the love and support.”
This year they have toned down the level of fright, as it was too scary for some of the younger children in previous years.
“A lot of the younger kids didn’t want to go through the years before, because it was too scary, so we are trying to mellow it down, but a lot of the older kids still want to come and have fun,” said Clark.
They will be taking groups of younger children during the day, but as it gets darker and later, they will gear it up to be scarier.
“It says on our flyers, 12 years and younger, but all ages are welcome,” said Clark.
Volunteers are still welcome and appreciated, even on Halloween night. Anyone interested can stop by Second Chance, or call 208-267-7504.
The event will only happen one day this year, on Halloween, Oct. 31, from 5 to 9 p.m.