KEMMERER — Thanks to the efforts and contributions from the local 4-H Club, the City of Kemmerer and others, the 4-H Club was able to host its annual Haunted Hayride on Monday, Oct. 13. Community members of all ages enjoyed a cozy wagon ride from the entrance of the Kemmerer Little League Fields to the Fossil Island Golf Course walking trail, where they strolled through graveyards of all kinds and shrieked in terror from jump-scares of Pennywise-esque clowns, skeletons, dismembered bodies and dolls.
According to Miriam Feeley and Raquel Rowland, the Haunted Hayride began behind the South Lincoln Event Center as a Haunted Barn fundraiser for the 4-H Club more than 10 years ago and continues to raise funds, with the proceeds going toward membership fees to make the 4-H program free for all kids in Kemmerer, along with supplies for various 4-H projects.
Despite the Haunted Hayrides’ ups and downs in terms of their successes in past years and the icy cold wind, it appears as though this year was quite successful, as the waiting queue for the wagon ride only grew more lengthy as the horses and their drivers, dressed as plague doctors, continuously returned during the night to deliver more people, both costumed and non-costumed, from the fire of a cauldron to the “Haunted Trail.”
They also provided a survey at https://surveymonkey.com/r/JYW25DX to help improve future Haunted Hayrides, in which many people responded that the wagon ride was their favorite part, though one child informed the Gazette that the “spooky parts” were their favorite.
