By: Geneva Nodland, nodlandge@mnstate.edu
In honor of spooky season here at MSUM, a few students offered up their time to make it a safe and fun Halloween for even the smallest of trick-or-treaters this year.
The Moorhead Center Mall is hosting the Haunted Mall event again, featuring many events, ranging from a haunted maze to fun Halloween arts and crafts. The event will be held from 5 p.m.-7 p.m. this Halloween evening in the Moorhead Center Mall by Jay’s Smokin’ BBQ. It’s a free event, where Jay’s will be serving their dishes at minimal charge, according to Recreation Specialist for Moorhead Parks and Recreation, Kim Wangler. Wangler has overseen the Haunted Mall event for the last three years, and this is the event’s fourth year in a row.
MSUM students are volunteering for the project again this year, returning, as they helped last Halloween as well. There were multiple opportunities for volunteers last week, including decorating and setting up supplies for the occasion. Students and other volunteers also have the chance to be a part of the Haunted Mall celebration tonight, Oct. 31, whether they choose to be involved in the actual scaring or just the crafts.
The students involved are from Psi Chi and the Psychology Club. Members and officers from these organizations volunteered for decorating and will be hosting activities during the event. They will be assisting with the haunted mazes at the mall as well. The co-vice presidents of Psi Chi and the Psychology Club, Josie Ova and Korey Lee respectively, are both participating for the first time and are happy with the number of volunteers they are bringing this year. Ova and Lee are both seniors majoring in psychology and are pre-med students with the intentions of continuing to psychiatry.
The Halloween event is aimed at families with young children, but doesn’t forget about the older, more adventurous ones either. There will be different levels of scare as well as different activities.
“We’re helping out with the haunted maze,” Lee said. “There are two different mazes. One is more so for the older kids, so you can dress up scary, and the other one is more geared towards young children, so you can dress up as something not-so-scary.”
Wangler said there are over 15 businesses participating by bringing crafts or providing an engaging Halloween-themed game. Along with the maze, they will be passing out candy, painting and taking home pumpkins, and a magic show at 6 p.m.
“We plan on maybe 1,200 kids and their parents,” Wangler said, “so it does get to be a busy event, but I think it’s just more fun than handing out candy if we try to do some interactive activities with them.”
MSUM students are bringing some additional fun to the event with a variety of prizes for the kids.
“We’ll also be doing a booth during the Haunted Mall, where we have a prize wheel and the kids can earn extra candy,” Ova said.
Along with the extra sugar, kids can win themed bracelets and temporary tattoos ordered for the event from the organization’s activity booth.
With the bulk of members and officers from Psi Chi and the Psychology Club in attendance for the Haunted Mall event, along with local businesses, the night should be full of sweet treats and spooky scares.