Hopedale haunted trail returns every weekend in October

The Sons of the American Legion, in partnership with the Hopedale American Legion Post 682, will host a haunted trail every weekend in October.

“We did it last year but only for one weekend, just to see how it was going to be,” said SAL Finance Officer Troy Harris. “Friday night last year we had over 150 people and the second night we had over 300. That’s the biggest reason we thought it would be a good idea to keep it going.”

Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children. The trail will be open from 7 to 10:30 p.m. each night. Harris said it won’t be overwhelming, but it will be scary. The legion is working with Kaci Edwards and Russ Byers, who formerly operated the Jewett haunted house in the old school building before it was torn down.

For very young children, red flashlights will be available so actors can tone down the scares.

The event begins with a hayride from the legion into the woods, followed by a maze and a quarter-mile walk through the dark. Harris emphasized that the trail is handicap accessible. “With the maze and trail together, it’s probably about a half mile long,” he said. “I wanted to make it handicap friendly. So we took excavators and skid steers in there and we took out hills and made it accessible. I took my sister—if I can push her wheelchair through it, then it’s perfectly fine.”

A quarter of the proceeds will go toward next year’s trail, with the remainder going back into the community. “We donate to food pantries, we donate to Pulling for a Cure, we do a lot of Toys for Tots around Christmas for the kids. We donate a lot of money back into the community,” Harris said. “We’re trying to do something for the community, bring stuff back to Harrison County. Bring more of the community around the legions for the veterans.”

Harris credited SAL Commander Joe Shepherd and all the volunteers for making the haunted trail possible.