Halloween activities abound for ghouls and goblins this year.
The Iola Area Chamber of Commerce is again sponsoring its popular Haunted Trolley rides for ghouls age five and up.
The tour features actors performing along the route, plus an on-board narrator telling spooky stories. Stops include the old Iola Cemetery. Tours leave the Chamber parking lot, 208 W. Madison, at 7:30 each night. Tours depart Sunday-Tuesday, plus Oct. 29 and 30. Tickets are $5 and available at the Chamber office. Seating is limited to 20 riders each night. Call the Chamber at 365-5252 for additional information.
Iola Public Library is hosting a Friday Fright Night at 7 p.m. Oct. 29 with a free screening of the 2001 film, “The Others,” starring Nicole Kidman as a deranged mother living with her children in a haunted house in World War II England. Required entry tickets are available at the library desk, 218 E. Madison. Library hours are 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Thursday, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Use the west (parking lot) entrance.
Allen County Young Professionals is sponsoring its second “Trunk or Treat” on the east side of the Iola square from 6 to 7 p.m. on Oct. 29.
Anyone interested may bring their decorated car to the square and distribute candy to the eager costumed crowd. Last year, about 100 children participated.
Also Oct. 29, LaHarpe Pride and LaHarpe Days Homecoming committee are hosting a Halloween “Spook-tacular” in LaHarpe City Hall, 902 S. Washington (the former LaHarpe Elementary School). The night starts with a freewill chili and soup feed at 5 and continues with games, a cakewalk and “Enter at your own risk” haunted house at 6:30. At dusk, revelers can take a hayrack ride and enjoy a bonfire, hot cocoa and cider at LaHarpe City Park. Be prepared for visits by a headless horseman, organizers warn. Fun and games continue through the evening at City Hall, with game tickets costing only 25 cents apiece. Tickets also serve as raffle tickets for a variety of prizes, noted Barbara Lynn Crites, chair of the LaHarpe Days. Costumes are encouraged.
On Oct. 30, the Iola Recreation Department hosts its annual Shocktober carnival.
Inflatables, a hay maze, spook house and more await visitors to the Recreation Community Building at Riverside Park. The carnival runs from 5 to 8 p.m. Wristbands, required for entry, cost $5 and are availableat the door.Participants are asked to come without costumes so they can ride the inflatables. Call the Rec office at 365-4990 for more information.
The weekend revelry tops off with another “Trunk or Treat,” this one sponsored by Grace Lutheran Church, in its parking lot at 117 S. Miller Rd. Costumed kids can come from 4 to 6 p.m. on Oct. 31, Halloween day, to scoop up all the treats they can. All area children are welcome to take part. Last year, more than 150 did so.
Halloween week hopping with fun
