Home to Haunts

  Home Page

  Lions

  Campers & Parents

  Guests & Visitors

  Staff

  More Articles About

   FLC:

       A Camp With a Vision

       Bringing Out Smiles

       Camp Offers Fun

       Devoted to Helping

  The Lions Club Camp way east of Lake Wales became Screamland the weekend before Halloween.

   More than 2000 kids of all ages dared walk the Haunted Trail, winding its way through the woods, and visit the more than ten scenes depicting mayhem of all kinds.

   There were two purposes for the live collection of assorted spooky types:

--Raise money for the summer camp, which is geared people, primarily youngsters, who

are visually impaired and those with attention deficit disorder.

--Provide some family

entertainment.

   More than just locals participate in the various scenes. Lions Clubs members come from around the state to work in the scenes.

   Shortly after dark the fourth and final night of the trail fundraiser there was a long line in the parking lot, waiting to get to the club's main compound. Then they would find themselves in another line, waiting to be organized into groups of 10-12 for the trip down the trail.

   No one really complained about the wait. They were too busy listening to the howls and screams in the distance, and too busy swatting mosquitoes.

   The first stop is a cemetery, where being dead doesn’t stop the occupants from saying hello to passersby.

   Then there's the Sunny Acres Insane Asylum, run by members of the Lake Wales National Honor Society.

   Hannibal is there, portrayed by Brain Valentine.

Friday the 13th Part XX?

    And Jason, from the seeming never-ending series of Friday the 13th motion pictures, has somehow been captured and somehow is remaining in a wire cage. He's portrayed by Will Cage.

   Others in the scene, carrying on as one would expect, are Rob Cage, Lauren Kincaid, Hillary Ziolkovski, Laura Friedlander, Claire Balgemann, Julie Jones, Andy Moore, Chris Mimbs, Laura Coconato, and Jenna Nelson.

   Members of the Key Club at Vangaurd School in Lake Wales were part of another scene. The group included Wes Peyton, Tristan Traver, Cene Ernyey, and Tim Stewart. Down the road apiece is a Jackson County, Fla. police car, which out of the darkness flashes its lights and sounds its siren.

   The Lake Wales Kiwanis Club put Barney Moore on ice outside the chilled entryway to its scene, filled with all kinds of spooky goings-on. Ed Hendricks was the ghoul peeking out from behind a black curtain, to welcome visitors.

   There was a big spider web nearby. If you weren't careful someone, or something, hiding in the shadows would spray stick web on you.

   And so it went.

   Barbara Cage, decked out as a witch, is administrator of the camp and said this was the fourth year for the Haunted Trail.

   It's planned to come back again next year, in the weekends leading up to Halloween.

   Mrs. Cage rode around the grounds in a golf cart, not on a broom; and carried a cell phone, not any evil potions. She was too busy dealing with details to participate much in the fun.

   She checked on a carnival in the gymnasium, filled with a variety of games. Outside was a hotdog wagon.

   Nearby was the Enchanted Forest, for the more timid visitors.

   "It can be pretty scary out there," said Marty Padula, another involved with the camp. "I understand some wanted off the trail last night."

Kiwanis Wins . . . Again

    There is competition among the various groups in the scenes.

   Lake Wales Kiwanians won the last three years and guess what? They won again this year, having the scariest scene. The spider web was the most creative; the National Honor Society's insane asylum was best overall.

   Mrs. Cage remembered a time not long ago when she and some of her family went to Old Town, Near Kissimmee.  All of a sudden a couple of kids who had been to camp saw her son Rob, who works there as a counselor. "They ran across the parking lot and hugged him," she said.

   And then she mentioned all the teenagers who were out on the trail, helping with the fundraiser. "There's nothing wrong with our kids," she said.

   As Mrs. Cage wheeled her cart toward lights and, presumably, civilization, more screams could be heard in the distance.

   A short person wearing a grotesque mask walked briskly by.

   That brought to mind a caution from the leader of our group: "Things will be jumping out at you. But don't worry. They won't touch you.:

   There was another scream and someone shouting about a werewolf.

   The lights grew brighter.

   "End of the line," Mrs. Cage said as she stopped the cart. And immediately a voice could be hear, crackling over the cell phone, that he needed help. 

Florida Lions Camp

2819 Tiger Lake Road

Lake Wales, FL 33898

863-696-1948

flc@gte.net

website managed by Kristen Frontera KFrontera@gmail.com