Damon Roher is transforming the old gym from a place of swishes and buckets to a chamber of skeletons and bats.
Roher, an officer for the Wrangell Police Department, is organizing a haunted house that will run from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 11-12, in the community gym. There is no required admission fee, but Roher recommends a $5 donation. All proceeds will go to the Wrangell Salvation Army’s youth programs.
For the haunt, Roher and his team of volunteers are going all out. He custom built two 10-foot spiders, an eight-foot grim reaper statue, and is transforming roughly a quarter of the gym’s north end into a haunted house. The multi-room structure will be constructed of pop-up tents, over 300 feet of black plastic sheeting and an infallible amount of faux spider webbing. “Not the cheap stuff either,” Roher said.
The haunted house will be organized as a guided tour. Roher hopes to have five guides taking guests through the haunt, which will be divided into several themed rooms.
He emphasized he did not want to disclose too many spoilers about the event, but it is worth noting that anyone afraid of clowns might want to stay clear of the community gym as long as the haunt is operating.
There is a zero-tolerance policy for any physical contact between the scare actors and the guests, and Roher expects the guided tour will last around 10 minutes.
This is not the first time he has organized a haunt, but it is the first time Roher has attempted such a large-scale production.
The past two Halloweens, he hosted private haunts for family and friends in his front yard. The first year’s haunt was constructed in a 200-square-foot area. Last year he expanded to 400 square feet. This year’s haunt will be 1,500 square feet, but Roher said his team of volunteers have eased the burden of scaling up the project.
Roher said it was an easy decision for the event’s proceeds to go to the youth programs at The Salvation Army.
“I have been going to The Salvation Army since I was a teenager. They help out so many community members in my community,” he said.
Roher isn’t the only Wrangell resident hoping to launch a new Halloween tradition. Over at the chamber of commerce, director Tracey Martin is hoping that this year’s “first annual” scarecrow competition will be the first of many.
The competition is open to the public, and there are three separate $100 prizes up for grabs: one each for the scariest scarecrow, funniest scarecrow and best overall scarecrow. Participants can pick up a registration form and scarecrow-making kit from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 5, at the American Legion Hall or, after that, they will be available through 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9, at the chamber offices in the Stikine Inn.
The kit comes with a wooden post to prop up their scarecrow, straw, burlap and 10 zip ties. Other than that, the only restrictions are that scarecrows must be weather resistant, and they must be between three and eight feet tall, and three to eight feet wide.
The three winners will be decided by a public ranked-choice vote. You can pick up your ballot at the chamber office beginning on Oct. 15. The chamber will also publish a scarecrow map so voters can scout out where each of the contenders are on display.
Martin is assigning all participating scarecrows to a corresponding business that will display the scarecrows Oct. 12-14.
“The goal is to get foot traffic into our local businesses,” she said. “You don’t have to be a Front Street business either. Anyone can display scarecrows.”
There is a $20 fee to enter the competition, and applicants can be individuals or groups. Families, churches, organizations and businesses are all encouraged to build a scarecrow, Martin said. The competition is sponsored by Anchor Properties.
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