You wouldn’t expect a place called Science Hill to have much interest in the unexplained, in ghosts and goblins but for the month of October, the northern Pulaski community might just be the scariest place for miles around.
The Science Hill Haunted House has been brought to life this Halloween season like Dr. Frankenstein shocking his monster into existence, and already put a good fright into folks last weekend.
“We had a great crowd Saturday night,” said Melanie Reynolds, one of the many individuals putting their time and effort into making the haunted house a reality. “We scared every group that came through.”
The Halloween-themed attraction is open until midnight every Friday and Saturday this month. It’s a labor of love (and yes, a little terror) by the Somerset Junior Woman's Club and the Somerset Pulaski Area Juniorettes, as well as the volunteers who put hammer to nail to build the haunted house.
Best of all, you’re not getting scared for no good reason. Proceeds benefit the Lake Cumberland Area Children's Advocacy Center, which serves a 10 county area, including Pulaski. The Advocacy center is located in Jamestown. And while it costs $6 to get in, you can knock a buck off of that if you also bring in two cans of food for God’s Food Pantry.
Lots of fake blood goes into making a truly terrifying haunted house, but it’s your own real blood that will come in handy in this case. All blood donors at Kentucky Blood Center of Somerset will receive two free tickets to the Science Hill Haunted House. In addition, the Science Hill Haunted House will host a blood drive at the haunted house on October 30 from 4-7 p.m. Those donors will receive two free tickets and be eligible to win a basket of fall items.
Reynolds and Nathan Roysdon are joined by haunted house veteran Tim Leigh as site managers and creators of Science Hill Haunted House. Roysdon has put his love of Halloween and horror movies to good use in helping the abused children served by the advocacy center.
“I hated that I wasn't allowed to trick or treat when I was 13 so I decided to decorate my yard and hand out candy each year,” said Roysdon, whose spookily-decorated yard on north Ky. 1247 in Science Hill has been a favorite of many several years. He states that his yard will be dark this year but fans can come see his handy work and mannequins at the haunted house.
Leigh is no stranger to this process, having built close to 30 haunted houses since he was 6 years old. He said that any no other haunted house he has been involved with has been for such a good cause.
Reynolds — a member of Somerset Junior Woman's Club, locally and Junior Special Project Chair of General Federation of Woman's Clubs on the national level — has always loved Halloween and helping children. Because the GFWC Junior Special Project is Advocates for Children, Reynolds said, “What a better way to advocate for the horrors of abused children than through a haunted house.”
The Science Hill Haunted House is open at 7:30 p.m.. on Fridays and 7 p.m. on Saturdays, and will be open from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. on the Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday the week of Halloween.
A special date to remember is October 20 from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., when the cost will be $7 and all money raised will go to the Ernie Wood Rehab/transportation fund.
Tickets are available for advance purchase at Citizens National Banks and will allow buyers access the haunted house faster. Haunted house staffers say it will take approximately one hour to tour, so long lines are a given. It is also recommended that you not wear good clothes, as crawling is mandatory and liquid will be in use.
Whether you enjoy good, old-fashioned ghosts, favorite characters from slasher movies like Jason or Freddy, or want to see what original scares organizers have come up with, the Science Hill Haunted House promises to be a scream.
“We’ve got a lot of our own (creations),” said Reynolds, “(and) we’ll continue to get into a groove more and more as time goes on.”
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October 7, 2009
Science Hill Haunted House offers thrills and chills for a good cause
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Pulaski carries Girdler to win
In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s primary election, it was impossible to miss the colorful signs dotting nearly every Pulaski roadway. The names in the race for the 15th State Senatorial District seat popped out: A.C. Donahue. Chris Girdler. Mark Polston.Once citizens hit the ballots, however, the results mirrored the dimensions of the signs themselves: Chris Girdler stood the tallest.Girdler, deputy district director for Congressman Harold “Hal” Rogers, ran away with the votes inside Pulaski County’s borders, earning 3,926 votes for 62.05 percent of the total number cast.That number more than doubled the next highest vote-getter, businessman Mark Polston, who raked in 1,624 votes for 25.67 percent.However, Polston — who owns Classic Carpet, a home-flooring business located just off the southern 914 bypass — can claim a moral victory ... three of them, in fact. In all three counties in the district other than Pulaski — those being Adair, Casey, and Russell Counties — Polston actually edged out Girdler.In Adair, Polston beat Girdler 629 to 394. In Casey County, it was 538 to 417, and in Russell, it was 1,862 to 1,038.Polston said he just “couldn’t pull it out with the numbers” and that “the machine worked for” Girdler in Pulaski County.“I think that was their strategy — I think they had a Pulaski County strategy all along,” said Polston. “They played the political game well.”Polston said the difference between his and Girdler’s campaigns was that “mine was a very, very grass roots campaign,” he said. “I did not have a political machine behind me. I understand how this process works, and in this instance, he prevailed.”As for why Girdler didn’t take three of four counties, the winning candidate — since there are no Democrats in the race, winning the Republican primary was effectively a final victory for Girdler — said he didn’t have an answer for that.However, “I believe things happen for a reason and I hope the long and strenuous campaign will only heighten my desire to move beyond the bitterness and partisanship of the recent past,” said Girdler.“Regionalism is a goal of mine, and I look forward to helping all four counties,” he added, noting that he campaigned heavily in each of them.Sen. Vernie McGaha, the long-time state senator whose seat the candidates were vying for, actually supported Polston after Liberty’s Todd Hoskins dropped out of the race earlier this month.Donahue, a local attorney, got 556 votes in Pulaski County, 8.79 percent of the vote. He only received 145 votes in Russell County, 74 in Adair County, and 75 in Casey County, where hometown candidate Hoskins almost matched him with 71 votes despite no longer being officially in the race.Polston said he’s “still digesting” what happened, and though “the process has been a very good experience for me,” he wouldn’t commit to running again in the future. “I wouldn’t shut the door to anything, but I’m not opening any doors either.”Still, “I think I got a lot of people involved in the process that had not been involved before and would not have been otherwise,” he said. “A lot of people got out and worked really hard, got motivated to talk to friends and neighbors. I think a lot of people became involved through this campaign that are going to be involved for a long time.”Girdler stressed his “positive message” and said that Rogers is a “mentor and good friend” that he would turn to for advice in dealing with a frequently combative legislative body in Frankfort, one for which Girdler hopes to help change the culture.Girdler said that he was “confident and optimistic” during the day Tuesday because he’d “worked extremely hard.” Nevertheless, the realization that he’d won gave him “chill bumps,” he said.“I’m absolutely honored,” said Girdler. “The position of state senator is more than an honor, more than an office. It’s a charge to keep, and I will give it my all.“I pledge to be the people’s state senator,” he added. “I look forward to working with everyone to move this region forward.” - Local Democrats diss Obama
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