By Madison Fisler Lewis
Oct. 21, 2014. If you’re looking for a good scare for a good cause this Halloween, look no further than the Appalachian Educators’ Haunted Valle, held Oct. 27-31 at Camp Broadstone in Valle Crucis.
Formerly the Haunted Horn, the spooktacular event will be held from 7-10 p.m. each night on the trail located at 1471 Broadstone Rd. Admission for the event is $10 for adults and $8 for students, and is intended for attendees ages 10 and up.
The trail is run by student volunteers from the Appalachian Educators program at Appalachian State University and the theme for this year’s trail is “Valley Nightmares.”
“The trail will have all of the things that you might have nightmares about,” said Janice Koppenhaver, assistant director of Teaching Fellows at Appalachian State University.
“In the lodge where people will wait to go on the trail, we will have corn hole and ladder ball as well as hot chocolate and hot cider to warm up with.”
The money raised from admission costs goes toward great causes. The event acts as a fundraiser for the Appalachian Educators’ “Angel Tree” program, which provides Christmas gifts for underprivileged children in the community.
“We have counselors that have identified 120 elementary school age children that we put on an angel tree so they can receive gifts for Christmas,” Koppenhaver said. “Some of the children are sponsored by students, staff and faculty and some are not. We use the money from this event to buy presents for those kids. We dress up like scary people in October so we can dress up like elves and Santa Claus in December.”
The event also raises funds for the Southern Appalachian Heritage Association (S.A.H.A.) which runs Horn in the West, where the trail had taken place for 12 years.
“The other part of the money goes to S.A.H.A., because we spent 12 years doing the trail with them,” Koppenhaver said. “A lot of Appalachian Educators are staff members of S.A.H.A. and they have a lot of the supplies that we use to make this event work. They have helped us out for a long time, so part of the funds raised also goes to that organization.”
The haunted trail has been very popular with students and locals since it first started 12 years ago. In past years, hundreds of attendees have flocked to the event and the same is expected this year.
“It is a great, scary trail and a lot of fun,” Koppenhaver said. “We hope folks will come out to Valle Crucis and let us scare them. We like to scare money to give presents to kids. It is a great cause and a good time.”
For more information about this event, contact Koppenhaver at 828-262-2685 or by email at koppenhaverj@appstate.edu.
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