Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Concepts for 2024 to be based on carnivals
PALOUSE — An open forum meeting at the Palouse Community Center informed volunteers and locals that Haunted Palouse will return with a new theme and concept designed for people of all ages.
Twelve people attended the 6:30 p.m. meeting on Thursday, June 27.
Will Perry, of Palouse, began the meeting as the appointed director of the non-profit organization, announcing that the board of directors had decided on the themes of rebirth and resurrection while conceptualizing around carnivals for design.
“We sat down as a board, and the main thing we discussed was an overall theme, and we basically decided that we wanted to do something on the resurrection realm, rebirth, based on the fact that we can pick up and run with it this year,” said Perry. “We also decided that the concepts would be based around a haunted carnival or a dark carnival. I think that easily correlates or goes into having a ‘kid’s carnival,’ which is the first year, to my knowledge, that we have attempted this.”
Perry noted that the newly planned kid’s carnival would potentially only take place on Saturday night during the festival for a short time. This would include events for children like face painting, pumpkin carving and other activities.
The board also decided that online ticket sales will be available this year, with a limited number available for purchase at the door.
Some local organizations have expressed an interest in volunteering. These groups are loosely planned to aid in the construction and operation of the event. However, the need for volunteers still needs to be addressed for Haunted Palouse.
Perry said two hundred volunteers would be needed to help get the event going.
Connie Newman, a Palouse local and realtor, presented a new opportunity at the meeting regarding a possible shorter-term lease opportunity at the old gym.
“It would need pulmonary approval, because there are still some unknowns,” she said.
The desire to have an area with walls already built, and a space where only themes and small tweaking could be made would assist in the labor-intensive volunteering hours that are being constructed.
Newman has contacted the owners of the old gym on Main Street, which currently operates Palouse Fitness and the Palouse Health Center on the first floor. However, Newman suggested that because the second floor is entirely vacant, it could be a good location for Haunted Palouse to take residency.
“It is a clean slate. It has wood floors, it is industrial-looking, and there is nothing you could hurt besides the windows,” she said. “So I called them and said, ‘If I can connect you guys with them, there is value in having a place where the walls are pre-built and stand for this year and the next Haunted Palouse.’”
The area is 5,000 square feet and a completely open space.
One aspect of the second floor is that it lacks electricity, which Newman reported would cost a few thousand dollars to add.
An unofficial proposal suggested by the owners sought that if Haunted Palosue put forward money to add electricity, they could be open to allow for a one-year lease. However, Newman reports that this was a potential risk to the building’s owners, as they hope one day that new apartments or a business would utilize the space.
“They bought it about four years ago and have put $2.1 million into renovations. They have more to do on that upper level,” Newman said. “It’s an incredible space. It might not be financially feasible now, but keeping our heads up on the possibility of something like this might maximize our volunteer groups.”
Perry noted that if they could acquire the space at a low enough price, it would be an opportunity worth pursuing.
The last topic of discussion involved Palouse Paintballers and an alleged contract from 2022.
Haunted Palouse allegedly agreed to a two-year contract promising additional funds for the labor and attraction.
“I tried to nail down exactly what their agreement was two years ago and for me, I would like to be true to whatever was promised to them. In my opinion, it was not an ungodly amount that we would have to pay them outright. It sounds like they did, and I do have invoices to show they put their own money in,” said Perry.
However, the contract was never submitted to the Palouse Chamber of Commerce and as of time of press, no record of a physical copy has been found.
Perry stated that the agreement was a word-of-mouth sit-down conversation in which Palouse Paintballers tossed out numbers for how much they would make.
“According to them, they were promised they would make $25,000. I am not saying we are going to pay them for that. I think they are an asset, and having them on board helps bring in a new group of people to Haunted Palouse,” said Perry.
Perry said that despite this, he spoke with Wil Edwards, a member of the 2023 Haunted Palouse team before it’s cancelation and 2024 Trail Manager, and was told that regardless, this year Haunted Palouse would owe more money to Palouse Paintballers than anticipated.
According to Perry, Palouse Paintballers received a cut of $9,000 after the 2022 Haunted Palouse.
Even with the lengthy discussion during the meeting, most of the group agreed that they would need to see the contract before agreeing to pay more.
Palouse Paintballers reportedly fronted almost $12,000 from personal bank accounts, but were later reimbursed by the Palouse Chamber of Commerce.
“Yes, they spent money out of their own pockets, and yes, they were reimbursed, but for a group like that to put in ‘X’ amount of money upfront, shows good faith on them,” added Perry.
Perry suggested that the group charge more for tickets and give the extra charge for tickets to Palouse Paintballers.
“My thought was to give them a little bit of an incentive based on ticket sales,” said Perry. “I am not retroactively offering them anything. We would vote on this, but off the top of my head, maybe we would charge $35 or $40, and the extra $5 for the ticket would, off the top, go to them.”
Palouse Paintballers has also agreed to bring in their own volunteer base rather than take a cut and receive volunteers organized by the Volunteer Coordinator, Lacey Watkins.
Perry will return to speak on Haunted Palouse at the Palouse City Council meeting scheduled for Tuesday, July 9. He plans to talk with the Chamber of Commerce at its next meeting on Wednesday, July 10.
The next open forum meeting open to the public is Tuesday, July 16.
Olivia Harnack is a Journalist at the Whitman County Gazette. Olivia is enrolled at University of Idaho and is majoring in digital film studies. She serves in the United States Army National Guard and is proud to serve Whitman County.
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