Winfield’s Madness in Machine Shed canceled

WINFIELD - Screams of fear will not be heard from Winfield's Madness in the Machine Shed this year.

The annual haunted house event, which has been held every year since 2015, has been canceled in response to health and safety measures surrounding the pandemic.

Lisa Rees, Winfield's deputy clerk and a member of the Winfield Betterment Group that organizes the event, confirmed the haunted house would not be taking place this year at a City Council meeting on Wednesday evening.

Rees said there would be 'no way of social distancing in the haunted house,” one of the main reasons the committee called off the event.

'We thought it would decrease the number of volunteers that we would have, that people would hesitate, and it takes a lot of volunteers to run the event,” Rees said.

The event usually requires 25 to 35 volunteers to dress up and make the event possible and sees several thousand visitors the weekend the haunted house is open.

Madness in the Machine Shed is the group's largest event, fundraising anywhere from $8,000 to $10,000, Rees said. The Betterment Group usually decides on a cause or project to donate to before the event. In years past, funds have gone to the construction of the city's new pool as well as the Henry County Freedom Rock.

With the pool already up-and-running and the Freedom Rock 'in good standing,” Rees said the group and town would weather the storm but the loss of the fundraiser will still 'hurt and make an impact.”

Rees added that she's heard from more adults than children who were disappointed about the cancellation of the event.

'I think people just kind of assumed it would be canceled because of everything going on so they prepared themselves for it. They're disappointed, but they completely understood,” she said.

Winfield will be moving forward with trick-or-treating and its annual Halloween Weiner Roast. The council finalized the date and time for both at their meeting. Both will take place on Oct. 31 with the roast running from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and trick-or-treating starting after and going until 8 p.m.