Submitted by Kevin Sabo
On October 28, the Castor Volunteer Fire Department hosted their fourth annual Haunted House. In a switch, however, the Haunted House took place at the future home of the Castor Fire Department, at the old Coil Works Inc. building on the east end of Castor.
In collaboration with the fire department, ATCO Power was on site as well, supplying hot dogs and beverages to the 180 or so people who came out to the event.
Marty Rowland, the Castor Fire Department training officer, and Travis Ryan, Castor town council member and a Castor Fire Department officer, acted as the gatekeepers to the haunting. Several members were inside, in costume, to provide the haunting. The experience was tailored to the age and comfort level of the people going through. A “1” was a light scare, and a “3” was a full on, hair-raising scare. Several other members were outside the haunted house, assisting as well. A skeleton crew remained on call to respond to anything that came in, and all participating members assisting in the haunted house were able to respond as needed during the event as well. Fortunately, no calls came in, and the haunting was able to continue uninterrupted for the evening.
The fire department has been running the haunted house yearly as a fund/food raiser for the Castor food bank, and admission to the haunted house was a food bank donation. This year, the fire department was able to raise lots of cash, and approximately a half pickup truck worth of food item donations.
Castor Fire Department is in the process of getting designs drawn up and funding secured for required renovations to the new building. They are hoping to move to the new hall sometime in 2018. The next fire practise will be November 28. If anyone has any questions or would like to volunteer with the Fire Department, please contact Fire Chief Patrick Kelly.
