'Haunted Forest' spooks up fun
—Courtesy photo A pair of clowns wave as they hide in the Haunted Forest as they wait for customers this weekend. The Haunted Forest, a benefit for Food For Our Children, takes place Friday and Saturday from 7-11 p.m. each night.
SANDPOINT — As October comes to an end and Halloween quickly approaches, members of Beta Sigma Phi Idaho Alpha chapter are working tirelessly to bring the Haunted Forest to life.
The third annual Haunted Forest will take place Friday and Saturday from 7-11 p.m. each night at the University of Idaho Extension Center on North Boyer. The Haunted Forest costs $10 per person, $25 per family of three to five and $40 per family of six or more.
Visitors may go through the maze as many times as they would like each night. It is not recommended for children under 10, and all visitors enter at their own risk. Parking is available across the street at Sandpoint Christian Center.
“We promise you will be scared,” Idaho Alpha member Corrie Jacobson said. “We are featuring two paths this year — and we recommend you try both, they are equally horrifying!” she said.
The Haunted Forest is a fundraiser for Food For Our Children, a relatively new non-profit organization whose mission is to raise funds to help feed hungry children in the community. The group is funding Food2Go, a program that provides supplemental food to most area schools for students on the weekends.
Last year, the Haunted Forest raised more than $3,000 for the program and hopes to match that success.
“We were thrilled to give that money to Food For Our Children,” Idaho Alpha Vice President Sarai McCormick said. “As teachers, community members, and mothers, we see the direct benefit of an organization like this, and the effect that it has.”
The Haunted Forest, reveling in success from the past two years, has become a tradition among the Beta women and their families, who donate both their time and money to put the event together.
“It is a lot of work,” Jacobson said. “We work throughout the month of October to build the forest, and plan months in advance.”
Beta Sigma Phi is an international women’s social, cultural and service organization. Bonner County has five active chapters, all of which are lively philanthropies, raising money for local scholarships and community organizations.