ESTEVAN — Â鶹ÊÓƵern Plain Co-op turned last Friday into a night to remember for thousands of people.
Between 2,500 and 3,000 visitors, some wearing costumes and others just enjoying the atmosphere, went through the Trails of Horror and Terror at Woodlawn Regional Park's Preddy Trails.
The trails opened at 5 p.m. for people with disabilities and their families, including but not limited to, sensory sensitivities and limited mobility, in partnership with Limitless DAS. Then, at 6 p.m., when it was darker, young families and those that wanted to experience a less scary version of the trails, were invited to check out all the decorations put out by the co-op at Trail of Horror.
And finally, starting at 7:30 p.m. the pathways turned into a Trail of Terror with monsters, goblins and other scary things waiting for the community to come meet them and make some noise.
Everything that night, from spook stations for the kids to tricks and treats, to hot chocolate and hot dog booths, to the trails themselves, was free to everyone. Co-op employees, local hockey players and volunteers from many Estevan organizations helped with filling the trails with ghosts, zombies and witches, along with running the games and food tables, and with putting everything together.
The Â鶹ÊÓƵern Plains Co-op team started preparing their 2022 Halloween bash as early as last August, and it took them the entire day to set all of their ideas and decorations up at Woodlawn.
Brooke Spagrud, marketing and community relations manager for Â鶹ÊÓƵern Plains Co-op, said the event was bigger and better than ever before. The traffic was steady throughout the night, and the park was filled with screams and laughter, which were the biggest sign of success.
"We expanded the trail and made the trail larger, and chose a different path road," Spagrud said. "And there were more decorations needed and more displays."
This year, the Estevan Bruins were joined by the Estevan Steelhaus U18 AAA Bears, who helped light up the pathways. Estevan Public Youth Centre volunteers also helped populate the trails and serve food. Most groups helping with the Trail of Terror were long-time event supporters and were excited to be back this year.
"Because it's such a fun event, and it's something that everybody really looks forward to every year, we have really good relationships with groups and organizations that have helped us out," Spagrud said. "So there are always organizations returning with aid, which I think is a sign that there's a good working relationship there."
While there were a lot of helpers, the main workload was on the hosting Â鶹ÊÓƵern Plains Co-op team, and Spagrud said it's almost impossible to put a number on how many people it took this year to make this big community event happen.
"There are people from all across the organization that helped. Even if they didn't help specifically at the trail, they were helping us gather supplies in the store to take out there or move stuff around. There are a lot of moving parts, but the majority of the event is run by co-op employees and their families," Spagrud said.
She added that Trail of Terror is a very valuable project for the co-op, and they plan to keep running and growing it in the years to come.
"It's just another way that the co-op gives back to the community. We are community focused and aim to support our members however we can," Spagrud said. "Over the years this event has just continued to grow and grow and become a local favourite. And we just enjoy putting it together and providing something back to our community."
The group that puts Trail of Terror together is already meeting this week to debrief and share their ideas for the future. As the event keeps growing, different departments come up with suggestions on how to improve various bits and pieces, to keep this popular tradition fun and safe for everybody.
For the full list of organizations that helped Â鶹ÊÓƵern Plains Co-op and made the Trails of Horror and Terror possible this year, please visit the co-op's Facebook page.
"Shout out to everybody that was involved with planning it from the volunteers to the organizations that helped us, because truly without them, we would never ever be able to put this on," Spagrud added. "It really takes a village to put this together. And it's a lot of work for a four-hour event, but I think many would say it's worth it because seeing everybody getting scared and laughing and having a good time is really what it's all about."
