At its monthly meeting Thursday, Aug. 17, the Lake Hemet Municipal Water District board approved Young Idyllwild’s Halloween Haunt, the Haunted Village on the Lake. The vote was unanimous.
Kathy Sacher-Wilson, founder of the month-long Halloween actor and animatronic maze walk spook fest, said the new venue offers greater possibilities. “We posted our flier advertising the new location on several social media sites on Saturday evening and got 12,000 hits,” said Wilson. “Last year, if we got half of that number we thought it was great.”
Wilson said the Haunted Hotel will add an additional maze, food vendors and bands, which the lake location permits. “We’ll have a people-mover golf cart to take visitors on a night ride through the forest,” said Wilson, with an occasional ghost along the way. “I think this location will allow the event to expand and draw more people. We had just outgrown Town Hall. Last year, the line was out the gate and way down the street.”
Wilson anticipates that visitors will come for both the lake and the haunted village, from the desert and the Hemet/San Jacinto area, as well as from Idyllwild.
The Haunted Village on the Lake runs from 7 to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays in October.
Young Idyllwild is a local nonprofit that mentors and provides educational opportunities for Idyllwild’s young people. Profits from this event help fund Young Idyllwild’s mission objectives.
