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Events generally suitable for mixed age groups, or have components that are suitable for younger children.
August 23, 2009
The Clyde Haunted House Invades Westlock!
Last weekend while the denizens of dEdmonton were preparing for a Bloody (but peaceful) Gorilla hunt in Spruce Grove, our good friends from the Clyde Haunted House took their crew of witches, werewolves, hearses and mummies on the road to scare up some fun in the parade for Westlock’s Annual Fair and Rodeo.
They were very kind to fly the dEdmonton banner for us, so we could be there in spirit, and their entry won third place in their category! The judges were probably impressed by the lustrous coat and firm, proud haunches of the Wolfman.
2009 will be the 4th year for the Clyde Haunted House. It’s on October 31st from 4:00pm to 10:30pm in the Clyde Community Hall, which is about an hour north of Edmonton. Last year they had nearly 1000 visitors - in a town with a population of 500!
It’s open to all ages at no charge, but they do ask visitors to bring donations for the Food Bank.
They’ve got two gorgeous hearses, and this year their goal is to fill one of them with food (but why stop at one, right?)
They have two venues: for the young ones (children under 11) and those young at heart, there is a guided tour and all the creepy crawlies promise to behave themselves; after that it’s Enter at your own Risk.
There are treats for all the kids, and coffee and hot chocolate for the adults.
So if you’re in the neighbourhood on Halloween don’t forget to drop by for a scare!
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One day we’ll get these groups together to settle the age-old questions:
Wolfman vs. Gorilla
Zom-brownie vs. Mummy
(Personally, a Zombie-Wolfman could take all of ‘em. Although nothing beats a Mummy-Gorilla.)
Westlock Photos are by Ashley Rich
August 9, 2009
Vegreville Parade
Vegreville Pysanka and some real characters
After our appearance in the Lamont parade, one of the members of the Vegreville float asked us to be in their parade. So after booking time off work some of us headed out to Vegreville in a hearse, a van and a truck.
The weather was nice - it was overcast, not too warm, not too cool, and it didn’t rain during the parade.
A gathering of clowns, some scarier than others
At this parade we were once again allowed to hand out candy along the parade route, which thrilled everyone. Unfortunately we ran out of Candy before we ran out of parade, but I’m sure all the kids got enough to keep their dentists rich for a while.
After the parade was over we proceeded to the Heather Curling Club for some food and beverages provided by the Vegreville Agricultural Society and served by the members of the Elks Lodge #143. While there the PR tag team of Darryl and Shane chatted with several members of the Elks and Amanda from the Ag Society. We have to give credit to Ben, Les, Carla and Rona who also did a fair bit of talking on their own. The Elks lodge were even interested in having members of dEdmonton come out for other events!
We also received first prize in our category! It seems the small town people have big hearts and enjoyed us.
1st place ribbon at the Vergeville Ag Society parade
Then the rain started…
Fortunately it stayed dry for the whole parade, which made us all quite happy.
Some of the zany characters pre-parade
A pair of old buzzards
There's real people under that makeup
We wish to thank the parade participants Ben, Rona, their hearse Bella, Shane, Carla and Darryl, plus the Vegreville Agricultural Society and members of the Vegreville Elks Lodge #143 for their time and effort in holding this event and participating in it.
July 26, 2009
Lamont Parade
At the Town of Lamont sign
We were a hit!
Lamont holds it’s annual Fair Days at the end of July and has events for not only the 1600 town residents, but all of the other towns in the County of Lamont.
Being a smaller parade, and the fact that it was farther out of town, only a small contingent represented the dEdmonton festitivies. Comprised of Bella the Hearse, driven by Ben, Rona the Vampire, Bloody the Clown, Shane, Carla, Matt plus a couple other zombies from the River City Zombie Committee, the people along the parade route cheered as our entry went by.
Bloody The Clown looks for some direction from the residents
The dEdmonton parade entry
The parade wound it’s way though many of the towns streets and the 45 minute route means that everyone that was there had a good look at the dEdmonton entry.
It was also noticed by the parade committee - who awarded the “Best Club/Organization” trophy to our entry.
Best Club/Organization Award
It was also noticed by other entries, including another town that invited us to their parade too! More details on that event later.
After the parade the entrants were invited to the after party where they received a beverage and a meal. A fun time was had by all.
There was one minor casualty in this though - Bella the Hearse had her passenger door scratched while everyone was eating. This is not a slight on the town of Lamont as this was liable to happen anywhere, but it was disappointing that this happened. This will not stop Bella and her owners, the Paranormal Explorers Team of Ben and Rona, who plan to get her healed up and back out for everyone to see.
The rest of our photos from Lamont can be found on Sights & Sounds page here.
July 18, 2009
Coverage of dEdmonton in the 2009 Capital Parade
Kerry Diotte at the Edmonton Sun wrote a column about dEdmonton for the morning of the parade:
There’s a real spirit to this grassroots fest
If you’re at the Capital EX parade today, look for zombies and hearses in with the clowns and cowboys.
The creepy characters will be trying to create a lively buzz about the city’s spanking new fall festival, celebrating the Halloween season.
“We’re planning to have two hearses, a bunch of costumed characters and dozens of zombies,” said Darryl Plunkie, co-chair of dEdmonton: Canada’s Halloween Festival, which kicks off in mid-October…
The full column is here.
The Sun also created a highlight reel of the parade here, and the dEdmonton entry prominently featured starting about 0:58 in.
And here is what iNews 880 had to say:
Zombies join Capital Ex Parade
Landon Kelly
7/15/2009If you’re headed to the Capital Ex parade Thursday morning, don’t be surprised to see a little something different.
The organizers of dEdmonton, an annual local Halloween horror festival, are entering the parade for the first time this year.
Darryl Plunkie is the co-chair of the group and says dEdmonton’s entry won’t include a float or a marching band. “You’re going to see a cast of zany characters and dozens of zombies as well.”
He adds, “We’re going to be book ended by a pair of hearses but, these aren’t your everyday hearses - one of them is pretty souped up.”
Plunkie knows his group’s entry will catch the attention of many people, and he hopes it goes a long way in exposing dEdmonton to Edmonton.
June 21, 2009
Volunteers needed to operate a festival
Scarecrow Festival 2009
The Scarecrow Festival is Edmonton’s premier children’s Halloween festival. They are looking for some volunteer help in organizing the festival - some of these positions are needed immediately, and others closer to hte event (October 16-18). Some of the positions they are looking for are:
A coordinator(s) of the Family Halloween Howl - This is an evening paid admission fundraising event (Friday) that is a dinner, silent auction, and activities for the kids. The coordinator will be responsible for the dinner, processing the attendee information, assigning seating, etc; the auction is being handled separately, and the activities will be manned by student volunteers.
Public Relations Coordinator - media contact and coordination.
Cookie Decorating Venue coordinator - this position is well defined and ready to run. The duties include contacting the suppliers, ordering, setting up the venue, and supervising the venue for the weekend of the Festival. This could use 1-2 people as well as weekend supervisory help.
Pumpkin House - this is also defined in duties. It involves setting up some pre festival activities of getting pumpkins decorated, then assembling the Pumpkin House for the weekend of the festival.
In addition, several positions on the weekend will be needed to run various events, man volunteer tables, help with crafts and games, etc.
Check out more details at http://www.scarecrowfestival.org/volunteers.htm and pass this on to anyone you know that might be interested.