Ana Barraza
Fall was definitely in the air on a chilly Friday night at Pierce College, where the bright lights and banjo music coming from the corner of De Soto Avenue and Victory Boulevard were a sure sign that the third annual Halloween Harvest Festival had commenced.
Walking up to the ticket counter, there was a whole array of activities for kids and adults to take part in posted on the sign above, including a five-acre corn maze shaped in the form of an American Indian’s head.
The labyrinth proved itself to be difficult even for a “maze master” who got lost trying to lead a group through.
She also recalled a group who took two hours to find their way out.
One of the main attractions of the festival is the one-mile trek through the “Creatures of the Corn” haunted trail.
As a friend and I hesitantly approached the entrance, we were slightly relieved to find that the “creatures” were on a 15-minute break.
This bought us time to muster up some needed courage and to appease our sweet tooth with a $3 bag full of cinnamon-and-sugar-dusted donut holes.
After bravely returning to the haunted trail, we handed over our tickets to the young man working and he explained the rules, which were quite simply don’t touch the actors and they won’t touch you.
Honestly, we weren’t really paying much attention to him, but more so to the couple of stragglers ahead of us, making their way in as the rest of their group faded into the darkness of the corn field.
We would later catch up to and eventually pass this group even though they had a significant head-start.
Following many attempts to turn back, I was finally able to coax my friend onto the creature trail as fast as possible.
There was no turning back now, and we found ourselves screaming our heads off and even becoming the main attraction for two young male patrons behind us.
The actors were not convincing.They seemed to think it would be more entertaining for them to scare us rather than let the “creatures” scare them.
Finally out, I decided a more wholesome activity would calm our frazzled nerves.
I asked where the petting zoo was.
“We have a goat with four horns,” said Dawn McAdams, an 18-year-old student from Taft High School. This is her second year working at the festival. McAdams, who works the carousel and the train, has noticed a lot of positive feedback from the guests so far.
The festival opened Sept. 28 and will continue on past Halloween until Nov. 4.
According to Larry Kraus, associate vice president of Enterprise, the Halloween Harvest Festival is an event that’s part of the Agricultural Education Center, a program of experiential activities related to farming, agriculture and environmental issues.
“It’s a fundraising activity for the future of the Agricultural Center,” Kraus said of the event, which generates “somewhere around $150,000” each year.
Festival hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, and 10 a.m. to midnight Fridays and Saturdays until Nov. 4.
The “Factory of Nightmares” haunted house opens Friday.
“We came last year and we’re back again picking out our pumpkins. We might do the hay ride,” said Asuzena Loera, a visitor who plans on making the festival a family tradition.
For more information on festival hours, activity prices and to purchase tickets online visit www.halloweenharvestfestival.com.
Maria Lozada, 4 years old, feeds a goat in the petting zoo at the Halloween Harvest Festival Saturday, Oct. 13, 2007. (Michele Masarik)