Frightful events at fort to aid Friends

PROSPECT – The controversy surrounding the dismissal of the Friends of Fort Knox executive director has resulted in competing Halloween events, both of which will benefit the organization.

The Friends will sponsor a one-day, daytime event billed as the “Family Friendly Fright,” while ousted administrator Leon Seymour is putting together a five-day event called “Fright at the Fork,” the proceeds of which will go to benefit the fort.

Although the board initially had intended to continue with plans for the annual Fright at the Fort Halloween celebration, interim Executive Director Kent Price announced recently that the event would “return to its roots” this year and become a one-day, daytime event.

Price cited traffic problems and a lack of volunteers as primary reasons that the Fright in its old format could not be staged “responsibly and safely,” he said in a prepared press release.

The four-day event last year drew approximately 10,000 people to the fort and reportedly raised about $46,000 for the organization.

Changing the format was “the only prudent choice,” Friends’ leaders said in that press release, acknowledging that the event had been damaged by the controversy over Seymour’s departure. Several groups and volunteers who had worked on the event in past years withdrew their support after he was dismissed.

The Family Friendly Fright will begin at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29, and will follow the 11:30 a.m. parade and “Lunch with the Witches” at the waterfront gazebo in Bucksport.

Activities are expected to include pumpkin decoration, a best-costume contest, bobbing for apples and other entertainment including horse-drawn hayrides around the fort grounds.

Admission to the event will be the standard Fort Knox admission of $3 for adults, $1 for children age 5-11.

Seymour last month announced the he was planning a new Halloween event called Fright at the Fork, which will take place at the Bend in the Road store and surrounding grounds on Route 1 on Verona Island.

In a press release, the former director said that many of the volunteers who had withdrawn their support from Fright at the Fort had indicated that they still wanted to participate in a Halloween event.

The event will include the popular Bucksport area zombie group from past events and Civil War re-enactors, as well as representatives from the North East Paranormal Society.

The new event is geared toward older children and organizers request that no one under 18 attend unless accompanied by an adult.

Fright at the Fork will be held from 6 to 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 21-22 and Oct. 28-29, and Halloween night, Monday, Oct. 31. Admission is $5 per person.