Saturday's spooky sensory trail start point
An estimated 1,000 people enjoyed the Rotary family Halloween event on 31st October at Queens Park Stumpery, consuming 1,000 sausages, 45 loaves of bread and an estimated 3,000 sweets. The five Invercargill Rotary clubs worked together to deliver a free afternoon of fun for families.
Club member Lisa-Maree Fleck, who coordinated our club’s involvement, described the afternoon as a community success for all involved. For an event volunteer, the greatest reward is seeing crowds of people enjoying an event.
The weather and wind settled for the event, and a few drops of rain went unnoticed amid all the fun.
Club collaboration made an event of this scale possible, sharing costs and spreading the event delivery workload. Seeing so many families enjoying free fun together in the fresh air showed the impact of that collaboration.
Thank you to Ross for transporting the chairs, tables and gazebo—much-used Rotary equipment that the club has invested in. Thank you also to Anu and Hemal for their help with the gazebos and spooky trail wall.
A special shout-out goes to Helen Cook for planning our part of the spooky sensory trail and providing fabulous support on the day.
An informal count using skull lollipops indicated that around 200 children visited our Spooky Sensory Trail in the first hour. Wearing blindfolds, children followed a guide rope through fabric, encountering hanging spooky objects, misted water, feathers and spooky sounds along the way. The Spooky Sensory Trail was one of seven activities on offer. Other activities included skull & pumpkin rolling, a scavenger hunt, balloon popping, a corn bag slide and guessing what was in the box.
East's Skull & Pumpkin rolling action South sizzled 1000s of sausages
The event achieved its aim of providing free family fun. Almost all attendees came with family, including many grandparents, aunties and uncles bringing younger children along. Plenty of adults joined in the Halloween spirit too, with some amazing costumes on display.
Rotary had a very visible presence at the event, with Rotarian's family and friends helping alongside club members. It was great to see a younger generation giving their time to benefit others.
The tentative date for the next event is Sunday 31 October 2027, with early discussions suggesting similar event times. If you’re keen to help with transport or set-up, or be part of the next event ‘scare’ team along the Spooky Sensory Trail, please let Lisa-Maree know.
To help keep the event free for families, club directors approved a financial contribution towards event costs.