Fall Fest 411: Hay maze, haunted house, games and more

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Justin Weaver
  • 31st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy --  This year's Fall Fest is gearing up to be a spookishly fun time for personnel, families and their costumed kiddos Oct. 29 in Area 1.

Fall Fest replaces the annual Trunk-or-Treat with a hay bale maze, pumpkin patch, haunted house, candy booths, games, outdoor movies, and events for youth and adults.

"We wanted to create a more robust event with multiple activities, and of course, eliminate the wasted time of customers waiting in long lines that were previously unavoidable with Trunk-or-Treat," said Heather Hanna, Youth Center director and Fall Fest coordinator. "The enhanced event offers a lot more for our community, and affords them the opportunity of enjoying numerous different events. This year, they can trick-or-treat at their leisure while stopping by all of our other fabulous activities."

Fall Fest takes over Area 1 beginning at 4 p.m. Oct. 29 and is open to all DoD cardholders. Due to limited parking, carpooling is highly recommended. The parking lot in front of the Shopette and youth center will be closed during the Fall Fest. However, the parking lots in front of the hospital and school will be open to help accommodate the additional vehicles.

Schedule of events:
4-10 p.m. - Outdoor food court
4-5:30 p.m. - Cosmic Bowling $15 per family for 90 minutes
4:30-5 p.m. - Costume Parade
4:30-7 p.m. - Trick-or-Treat Stations
5-6:30 p.m. - Haunted House "Less Scary Hours"
6-7:30 p.m. - Cosmic Bowling $15 per family for 90 minutes
6:30 p.m. - Outdoor Movie "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!"
7-10 p.m. - Haunted House "Scary Hours"
7 p.m. - Outdoor Movie

This year's Fall Fest has added new and exciting activities for children to participate in.

"Our sponsors are responsible for the 'Pumpkin Patch' and have helped fund 500 pumpkins for the kids as well as numerous other enhancements such as hay bales and treats," said Hanna. "There will be a crate climb, a hay bale maze -- where kids can 'scoot' through -- and there will be sensory stations for children up to 5 years old."

Families, private organizations and squadrons can sign-up for trick-or-treat stations, or to decorate a room in the Community Center. Each station will be rewarded with a prize valued up to $100. Station builders can be as creative as they like, but "scary stations" are reserved for the haunted house.

One key to the success of the event is the volunteers who step up to help with all the activities.

"There is always a need for more volunteers for any base wide event," said Hanna. "We could definitely use some help with clean up. We will also need people to help with parking and traffic control as well as participants for the haunted house contest.

"We appreciate and would like to extend a big thank you to all the participants in the community who have offered support in some way to make this event a success; but most importantly to every person who says 'I can help,' that makes these types of events a success," Hanna said. "We cannot do this without every one of you."

To volunteer, or for more information about the Fall Fest, call DSN 632-7575.