A classic tale begins “it was a dark and stormy night.” The good turn to the story? No storm, and the rain stopped before Clark Lake’s Trunk or Treat began. At 5 pm, evening was on the way, and the chilly breeze off the lake provided convincing evidence that Halloween was arriving. Kids, parents, and grandparents gathered at Eagle Point for a treat to remember. Bountiful M&Ms, rides on the MIS Nite Lites Train, and all the costumes added up to lots of fun.
The rides on the Nite Lites Express Train took passengers from Eagle Point to the Clark Lake Yacht Club. At the Yacht Club, kids got a glow stick. Many now know why it can be said that the Spirit Trail is haunted at this time of year. Just to be sure, older Columbia students lined the route, popping up from behind trees, all with the Halloween spirit in mind.
Adding to all of that were 500 boxes of popcorn and hot dogs in the Shipwreck Pro Shop. Many stayed for dinner at the Eagle’s Nest Bar & Grill.
Jill Bentley and Kellie Garris arrived on horseback, and gave kids a ride.
Check it out the train, the kids, horses, and more in the video.
Events like these don’t happen without an army of volunteers. Special thanks go to Blair Huff, Jorge Orozco, John and Dotty Karkheck, Tim Zacharias, Tucker Boyers, Lindsay Jones, Sam Jones, Kirk Mercer, Police Chief Jay Niles, Ric Walton, Clark Lake Yacht Club, plus several others who created the fun. Donations benefit the Clark Lake Spirit Trail.
So many to thank, so little time! A huge thank you to my sponsors and friends for helping me put on a fun, safe, picturesque event for trick or treaters last night.
Blair&Jorge and their staff went way over the top to make this all happen! The Night Lites Express Train was a bigger hit than the over 9000 pieces of candy given out. We hope that all will patronize their light show at MIS this winter.
There were a lot of moving parts to this event treating hundreds of children.
Thanks to Brooklyn for the movie screen.
A big thank you to Chief Jay Niles for all of your help.
Bless you Kirk Mercer and Rick Walton, Walton Insurance Group for funding.
And finally to my wife Dotty, We couldn’t have accomplished this without all of your planning, marketing and dedication working all day and more to have a first class event and help raise some funds for the Spirit Trail.
Rick, great coverage of a great Halloween event that will soon be a Clark Lake annual!
Many, many thank yous to Blair Huff, Jorge Orozco, John and Dotty Karhkeck, and the many volunteers and organizers!!
I love our Clark Lake Spirit! And thank you for the donation to the Clark Lake Spirit Trail!
Ann Swain
Another amazing event! I am so happy for my brother John, his wife Dotty, and all their friends and neighbors who can always be counted upon to do so much for the people they love. I wish I lived close enough to have joined you. Such an unusually wonderful group of people!
Congratulations to all!
What a spectacular event. A great big THANK YOU to all who worked so hard to make it happen.
My only regret, I’m not a kid anymore.
Mike
Kellie and I had so much fun! Thank you all for including us! Next year we will introduce the horses to Halloween with all the costumes. All in all Moonie was great with Kellie Garris. Zip was ok, he is so scared of the train, and the costumes.
So much fun for all!
Thanks so much Jilly!
You were a big addition to our family event.