Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
It was night. A sound came from the closed firehouse. The printing museum was dark, and something had happened on the dirt road by the river.
The 16th annual Haunted Palouse begins Friday in which the city becomes an eerie place. People 12 and over pay $20 to gain entry into a transformed gauntlet of a firehouse, an unrecognizably haunted printing museum and a cold, tense ride on the back of a farm trailer down Shady Lane.
The two-weekend event benefits a varied list of town organizations.
“Every year is just so much fun,” said volunteer Janet Barstow. “Every year we think, oh dear, oh dear, what are we gonna do this year that we haven’t done, then we sit down and somebody throws out an idea and it starts. We’re feeling good about it.”
Aside from the three main attractions, fortune tellers will be seated at the closed Green Frog Cafe, and a surprise or two always seems to be on the street.
For food, the Lions Club hamburger trailer will be on hand, along with the Xenodican Club with hot drinks and baked goods. The Palouse Caboose tavern will also be open.
Haunted Palouse will take place over each weekend leading up to Halloween: Oct. 20-21 and 27-28.
On opening night, groups of 20 or more may pre-arrange for a discount of 20 percent.
Preparations began in earnest in mid-September after Palouse Days.
For construction, organizers obtained all wood this year from Moscow-Pullman Building Supply at cost.
Added labor again comes from WSU’s Sigma Chi fraternity, whose members will spend six full days on the project. Last week, they hauled in lumber one day and then worked both days on the weekend helping with construction.
“We couldn’t do it without them,” Barstow said.
In 15 years of Haunted Palouse, the event has brought in more than $500,000 for local causes.
This year, organizations putting on the event include Palouse Community Center, Palouse Chamber of Commerce, Roy M. Chatters Printing Museum, 4H Palouse Area Robotics Team, Tony Kettel Skate Gardens, Garfield/Palouse FFA and Garfield/Palouse Athletic Club.
“We’re just all excited,” Barstow said, one of the many volunteers who put in an estimated 3,700 man hours in the process of staging the two weekends each year, including cleanup. “It’s a great time to be working together and coming up with new ideas.”
For more information or to arrange a group rate, call (509) 595-1129.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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