The Happy Horrors of Halloween were celebrated at least a couple of weeks early by the Alumni Activities Club on Friday, October 11, 2019 when staff drove a group of four to the Headless Horseman Hayrides and Haunted Houses in Ulster Park, NY.

It was a perfect, lukewarm autumn night without a drop of rain as we indulged in about two hours-worth of supernatural effects and over-the-top, realistic decorations. Posing from left to right is their Activities Liaison, Jesse Saperstein; Shannon Clark; Rob Corso; Mia Carr; and Bill Fitzpatrick. Shannon deserves credit for advocating for this particular activity and making it come to fruition by piquing the enthusiasm of her alumni peers. In another photograph everybody posed by a wall with zombie arms stretching out as we all hammed it up by making mock faces of fear!

The expansive grounds had everything from a dilapidated hotel filled with massacre victims to a lonely diner recently frequented by a homicidal maniac. (All make-believe, of course!) Even as an adult, these activities remind us what it feels like to be a child and indulge in the nostalgic terror of Halloween.

There are plenty of other trips near and far that will take place in the future including at least one excursion into New York City planned for Saturday, December 14, 2019 to see a prequel to Peter Pan called, “Peter and the Starcatcher.” The Alumni Activities Club is also planning to take full advantage of the many activities in the local area that will open up as winter approaches such as Holiday Extravaganzas at the Palace Theatre as well as the free ice skating rink in front of the Egg Building housed within the Empire State Plaza.

The staff who run the Alumni Activities Club always encourage members to be honest about what it is they want out of the club and even if an activity initially seems too expensive or far, we collaborate as a group to see if we could make it come to fruition. Some of the more elaborate trips in the past have included a vacation to Wildwood Crest, NJ for a multi-day stay at the beach and a Yankee Trails Bus trip to Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut. There will be more adventures on the horizon. The participants only have to ask!