Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Joseph Cyr
GETTING READY — Kassy Jackman, right, of Amity helps Brooklynn Brown of Linneus get into character Friday evening for the first night of the Linneus Haunted Hayride. About 90 students and adults help put together spooky scenes for the event.
By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
LINNEUS —If ghosts and goblins, freaky clowns and scenes of bloody gore are your idea of a good time, then the Linneus Haunted Hayride is the place to be the next two weekends.
After a one-year hiatus, the hayride is back and better than ever, featuring a new location, a bundle of new scary scenes and a few old favorites guaranteed to elicit screams of terror from those brave enough to take the ride.
The hayride, which serves as a fundraiser for the town’s recreation department, held its first two nights to strong crowds this past Friday and Saturday. The event continues this coming Friday and Saturday, and again Oct. 25 and 26, with the mayhem starting at about 6 p.m. Tickets cost $5.
On Friday, 400 visitors attended, while an additional 520 came out Saturday evening.
About 65-90 people volunteered their time to put on the event this year. Many of those volunteers are students from Houlton, Hodgdon, Danforth and Haynesville who earn community service time. Students who donate their services may also earn funds for their respective classes.
Taking roughly 20 minutes to complete, this year’s hayride features plenty of startles and scares to spook visitors. Some of the new additions include a “Jurassic Park” scene, a headless horseman, witch doctors, a hangman’s scene and a guillotine. Spectators should also be aware of things zip lining over their heads at any given moment.
Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Joseph Cyr
NIGHTIME WORLD — One of the new attractions on the Linneus Haunted Hayride is a “Jurassic Park” scene, complete with dinosaurs.
“We jammed a lot more scenes into a smaller space,” said Carrie Palmer, one of the event organizers. “We really don’t give people any time to breath. It’s one thrill after another.”
The Linneus Recreation Committee and the town cooperatively purchased a 40-acre spruce plantation behind the recreation department/fire department on the Bangor Road for a permanent location for the hayride.
By taking a year off, the excitement level for the event has been steadily building.
“We have had a lot of positive feedback from the community,” said Estela Lane, one of the organizers. “So many people are happy that we are starting up again.”
“Really, the support never left,” added Janna White, recreation department secretary. “When we held our first organizational meeting, I think the numbers were more than we’ve ever had. Every year we see new faces.”
“It’s an exciting ride,” explained Mike Lane, recreation director for Linneus. “The support has been amazing. There was a lot of energy to bring this back after taking a year off. People really missed it. The town has been deluged with phone calls.”
A new road had to be constructed and electricity was also supplied to the trail to power all of the spooky lighting effects. The ride begins at the Recreation Department and features a short stretch of darkness before getting to the first few scenes. That course design allows for organizers to take the opportunity to ad-lib a few scary moments before the first scene is revealed.
Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Joseph Cyr
IN MAKEUP — Christine Wallace of Hodgdon puts the finishing touches on her spooky makeup Friday evening for the Linneus Haunted Hayride. In the background is Kayla Doughty.
“You just never know what will happen on this ride,” Lane added.
Lane said he hopes to draw even more people than previous years. The Haunted Hayride began with 12 scenes and drew about 600-700 people coming to the event. Now, in its 15th year, it draws about 3,400 people and has grown to 30-plus scenes. People come from Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Woodstock to as far south as Portland/Lewiston and north to Caribou and Presque Isle to view the hayride.
“Our goal from the beginning was to try to make the recreation department self-sufficient,” Lane said. “The town has been great to give us support for our youth programs. We wanted to try to take the load off the town, which is how this whole thing began.”
Brenda Carmen, recreation department board member, said she was eagerly awaiting the start of the hayride. Carmen typically can be found acting in one of the scenes as a gruesome doctor or dentist.
Food, provided by The Lunch Box, is available for purchase at the Recreation Department building. Souvenir T-shirts can also be purchased for $12.
For more information on the Haunted Hayride, check out Facebook or log on to www.linneusrec.com.
