Halloween fun at the Betsey
Youngsters experience holiday in non-frightening wayBy Sam Shawver, sshawver@mariettatimes.com
Article Photos
Fact Box
Area trick or treat times for Saturday:
5 to 8 p.m. Ludlow Township.
6 to 7:30 p.m. Barlow-Vincent area.
6 to 7:30 p.m. Belpre.
6 to 7:30 p.m. Newport.
6 to 7:30 p.m. Parkersburg.
6 to 7:30 p.m. Vienna.
6 to 7:30 p.m. Williamstown.
6 to 8 p.m. Dalzell-Germantown.
6 to 8 p.m. Lower Salem.
6:30 to 8 p.m. Lowell.
6:30 to 8 p.m. Marietta.
Special tour
A special Haunted House tour for adults will take place from 9 to 11:30 p.m. Saturday in the basement of the Betsey Mills Club on the corner of Putnam and Fourth streets in Marietta. Cost is $5 per person.
An arrary of pint-sized princesses, superheroes, witches, ghouls and hobgoblins crowded the gymnasium floor for Friday's Halloween Fun night at the Betsey Mills Club in Marietta.
"It's our third year for this event, and it allows younger kids to experience Halloween in a more non-frightening way," said Linda Lewis, executive director of the Betsey Mills Club.
"They play games like 'pin the nose on the pumpkin' and 'ghost, ghost, Frankenstein' (patterned after the duck, duck, goose game)," she said. "There's also face painting, pumpkin decorating and a costume contest, which is a new wrinkle we added this year."
Assisting with the evening were several Marietta College freshmen from the McDonough Leadership Program who helped out as part of the college's extended Make a Difference Day events.
Tanya Judd-Pucella, assistant professor and director of civic engagement at Marietta College, said the fun night and Saturday's Haunted House event at the Betsey Mills Club are among 28 Make a Difference projects in which more than 300 college students will participate during this academic year.
"We assisted Linda and the Betsey Mills staff with everything," said freshman Shelby Pernod. "But it's great. These kids have so much fun with such simple games,"
Lewis said the fun night is a low-cost event that kids seem to enjoy each year.
"Turnout was a little lighter this year, and there seem to be more older children participating," she said. "The first year we held this event, there was a line out to the sidewalk in front of the building."
On Saturday night a more adult-themed Haunted House will be held at the Betsey Mills Club from 9 to 11:30 p.m.
"It's much scarier," Lewis said. "We don't restrict ages, but if parents want to put up with the nightmares it's up to them."
She said the haunted house event, held in the club's basement area, includes some chillingly costumed characters, scary clowns, a creepy "doll room," and a reptilian creature in the pool.



