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Bloomington-Normal, Illinois
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| NewsMonday, October 22, 2007 9:42 AM CDT |
Frightening thrills can be found on Constitution Trail
NORMAL — Already clad in colorful costumes for a trip to the town’s Haunted Trail, many children also went home Friday night with painted faces and temporary tattoos — but no nightmares. Some added the tattoos to their Halloween costumes before entering the temporarily haunted section of Constitution Trail near City Hall, where families got a not-so-scary scare as part of the kids-weekend kickoff. After finishing up on the Haunted Trail — now in its 12th year — volunteer Ben Shander, an Illinois State University freshman clad in a faceless-man costume, directed children to the town’s outdoor theater near the Ahlers Shelter on the path. There, they could have their faces, still very much attached to them, painted. “Everybody who goes down the trail has a great time,” said Kersten Wilson, special events supervisor for the Normal Parks and Recreation Department. “We’ve met the needs of a lot of people,” Wilson said. “Parents can come and not worry about their kids having nightmares for two weeks.” Normal Parks and Recreation organized this year’s Haunted Trail with help from ISU student volunteers, including the Sigma Chi fraternity, Gamma Phi Beta sorority, the softball team, and classes from the school’s recreation department. More than 1,000 people visited the trail Friday night, organizers said, with more expected Saturday for Day 2 of the non-scary version. The spookier version is next weekend. The outdoor theater is a new addition this year. On Friday, children played tag and rolled down the grassy hills in front of the theater, while others had their faces painted and munched on popcorn. New costumes, old favorites Volunteers also rolled out some new costumers this year, many from the movies, including Shrek, Harry Potter and pirates from the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series. Haley Butler, 7, of Normal went as perennial favorite Dorothy from “The Wizard of Oz.” She was there with her sister, Leila, 4, and her parents, Colby and Nidia. Nidia Butler said the $1 price of admission (or canned food donation) was her favorite part of the trail. Colby Butler said the hayride won him over because he didn’t get a chance to experience that growing up in Chicago. “It’s becoming a family tradition. It’s a nice way to start Halloween,” said Nidia Butler, adding this is the family’s third or fourth year visiting the trail. While the trail will get scarier, the first two days were designed with children and those easily frightened in mind. A gruesome greeter stood under an arch painted with tombstones for “Shirley Dyin” and other fictional unfortunates. The greeter told groups of children before they entered the trail that if a scary person spooks them, they can say, “Monsters, go away!” and the frightening figure will let them be. But few children, if any, needed to use this technique. “It’s a good time. It’s not too scary,” said Jack Shanahan, who was escorting a young friend named Jackson. Scary good timeWhat: Normal’s Haunted Trail (on Constitution Trail), the scarier version When: 6 to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday Where: Participants line up behind Normal City Hall, with the event running along the trail from Vernon Avenue to the Parks and Recreation annex, 611 S. Linden St. More info: $1 admission; concessions will be available at the end of the trail and a hayrack ride back to City Hall will complete the evening |
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