Youth Center's grand Halloween event Bootastic to feature haunted house

  • Published
  • By Lee Ross
  • Nucleus writer
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  The planning committee for Bootastic, the Youth Center's grand Halloween event, gathered Sept. 8 to start planning, according to the center's director, Camille Ozores.

The Torch Club, a group of young volunteers, is spearheading the event, which drew around 2,000 visitors last year.

There will be popcorn, bouncy castles and a parking lot trick-or-treat, or "trunk or treat." Ozores said the kids may be most excited about bringing back the popular haunted house, which wasn't part of last year's events.

"We are going to come up with new ideas and plans for the haunted house," she said. "They are already creating props and splitting up into teams."

One group of kids with "rescue team" T-shirts will rescue those who are too scared and help them out of the haunted house. The other group of kids will be at the popcorn booth, she said. And all the kids are participating in the planning and decorating.

377th Security Forces will block off G Avenue, which makes the parking lots feel more like a carnival atmosphere, she said, and allows families to come across the street without worrying about traffic.

"We usually have about 60 booths, inside and outside, and plenty of food vendors. The 377th Force Support Services Booster Club will be serving hot dogs, Frito pies, and water," she said. "Everything is free but the food."

Gabi Dorsey, 12, president of the Torch Club, said the haunted house should have plenty of scares.

"When you walk in, you want something to scare them. Maybe a creepy clown coming up behind you," she said. "I'm trying to think as scary as I can, and I don't like clowns."

She drew the classroom the haunted house will be built in and sketched out how the maze-like passageways would lay out, she said. Gabi and the other kids in the Torch Club are putting a lot into this year's event, she said.

"I really hope it's going to be really big," she said. "I hope it comes back bigger and better than before."

Bootastic will be Oct. 23 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Youth Center, which is on G Avenue just west of Pennsylvania Street. For more information, call 853-5437.