First off I want to thank the Small Neighbourhood Grants for making this amazing experience possible.
The planning started in August with what my vision was and how I was going to execute it. I literally eat, breathe and sleep everything and anything to do with Halloween. I knew that the Miyazaki House was the best place in Lillooet to make my vision a reality, needless to say it was a huge community success.
Come September I knew who I needed to approach to make it all come together, teenagers. I work as an Education Assistant at our local high school and knew that they need volunteer hours for graduation. They were more than happy to help out. Some helped with decorating and cleanup while the majority were all about dressing up in costumes to do the scaring. I also talked to a few adults I know to get into costume and character, they happily obliged. Over the month of October I began gathering together my decorations I’ve accumulated over the years and visualizing what it would look like, all the while keeping in contact with the kids. One of my coworkers volunteered to create the posters which were plastered around town. Getting closer to the event there definitely was a lot of buzz going on. On the Saturday before the president of the Miyazaki House, myself and five students helped decorate.
My favourite day of the year finally arrived!! A total of 24 volunteers arrived in varying costumes and got into positions to start spooking our visitors. As the host ghost I greeted and welcomed every group into the haunted house. Over the next 3 hours I heard a lot of shrieks, screams, and a little laughter. We calculated 302 attendees.
All in all it was an amazing fun filled night for everyone. Over the next few days students and community members were talking about it in our little tight knit town of Lillooet.
Thanks again for giving the people of Lillooet this opportunity. It truly is an amazing feeling when you do something rewarding for the community.
