The Drama Club put on their annual Halloween fundraiser, the “Haunted Woods” at the Town Commons this past week. This fundraiser includes an interactive haunted house-style tour of the woods, a “goblin garden” for younger kids, and a live band to offer a fun Halloween experience for people of all ages.
“It’s hard sometimes when [parents] have multiple kids and want to have a good experience for them,” drama club adviser Danielle Loschavio said. “[The “Haunted Woods” gives] something for the kids to do so [parents] don’t have to go to Screamfest and pay $40 per person.”
The “goblin garden” aspect of the fundraiser is run by Loschiavo and drama students who volunteer to create activities for younger kids or kids too scared to go into the woods. The “goblin garden” included games, concessions, crafts, and prizes for kids to enjoy. The games and concessions were run by drama members and parent volunteers who offered their time to help out with the fundraiser.
“The game I was in charge of was like a carnival can game [where] if they knock [the cans] down, they get a cool prize,” senior drama club member Mary Marcella said. “I ran out of three buckets of prizes this week.”
The main event of the fundraiser is the tour throughout the woods to see all the skits put together by the drama club members. The members of the club separated into groups to create skits to perform in the woods or were scarers who jumped out at patrons to scare them.
People were led through the woods by upperclassmen drama club members, also known as “tour guides,” dressed as certain characters. To keep the customers engaged, the guides must stay “completely in character.”
The fundraiser also included a live band which was added last year, which has shown to have extended interest to “people who were not even planning on going” according to senior, drama club member, and jazz band member Joey Cain.
“Through [the live band], we made the event bigger and had more of our community involved,” Cain said, “which is always great, not just for us as a Drama Club for funding, but also for the town itself.”
Thanks to the many club members and volunteers, the “Haunted Woods” has been a welcome addition to the Halloween season in Londonderry.
“It brings the community together,” drama club advisor Ryan Barrett said, “[It lets] the little kids and older kids get to have some fun.”
