The haunting of HERO doubles as fundraiser for the nonprofit

The woods in Sockum Ridge Park were alive over the weekend as volunteers with 'Healing of English River Outfitters” adorned masks and camouflaged themselves in the trees.

The haunted trail is more than just a Halloween activity - it's a fundraiser for the nonprofit 'Healing At English River Outfitters” (HERO), which serves veterans through life-skill programs. Last year, the haunted trail brought in $800, helping HERO pay for some of their expenses.

The trail is on HERO's grounds on the southeast corner of Sockum Ridge Park.

'(Halloween) is one of my favorite holidays,” said Chazz Russell, volunteer on the haunted trail and president of the nonprofit Horses for Heroes. 'There's more adrenaline pumping than you get on Christmas. All of us veterans are adrenaline junkies.”

For a small fee, guests got to explore the haunted trail, hear a witch tell stories, ride a hayrack ride and help themselves to hot dogs, chili and cocoa.

LED lights were placed along the trail to keep guests on the path. In the shadows, swamp monsters hid, animated ghosts and ghouls cackled, and skeletons jumped out of the trees. Maybe the most menacing sight, however, was a dummy tied to a spit and being roasted over a fire.

Younger kids and the faint of heart were provided glowing wristbands to ward off some of the evil spirits that haunted the woods - or just let the volunteers know to back off a little.

'If the people on the trail don't see a wrist band, then it's game on,” HERO president Chuck Geertz said.

This was the fourth year of the haunted trail. While some years there have been as few as five volunteers, this year 17 volunteers were out in full force to haunt the trail and serve guests.

Russell, whose nonprofit Horses for Heroes partners with HERO regularly for events, knows that it's fundraisers - even the smallest ones - that keep programs like theirs going. It also gives their organizations a way to outreach to the public and meet veterans who may not have connected with HERO before, said the veteran who was deployed to Iraq in 2005.

'(We) let our inner demons out,” Zach Bonebrake said with a laugh. Bonebrake was a haunted trail volunteer and co-president of Horses for Heroes.

'There's nothing better than having a place like this,” Bonebrake said more seriously as he surveyed the open land around him while the sun set Friday, Oct. 26. 'There's beauty all around you, and you feel at peace with yourself. Blood, sweat and tears have gone into this place.”

Bonebrake, who said he has always been a jokester, was looking forward to good, clean fun over the weekend. His daughter, Macy Bonebrake, 10, was also looking forward to haunting the forest. Dressed in all black with a black veil over her face, Macy described herself as the thing that goes bump in the night.

Beside her, Pearl Dittrich, 11, was dressed as a killer clown. She figured that she's afraid of clowns, so other people would be too.

'I'm excited for mainly scaring people because their reactions are funny,” Dittrich said behind her mask.

Bonebrake was happy to bring his daughter and Pearl with him to volunteer Friday night. It teaches them the importance of doing work for other people out of the goodness of their heart, he said.

As the sun dipped behind the hills surrounding Stockum Ridge Park, shrieks and laughter echoed through the forest and spooky music filled the woods.

The haunting of the trail had begun.