Looking for some Hallowe’en fun for your little ghouls and goblins, Wonderwomen and LEGO ninjas? Take them to the 29th annual Great Pumpkin Trail at Muskoka Heritage Place!
“It’s a great event for families, especially those with younger kids, and it’s become an annual tradition for many,” says Muskoka Heritage Place manager Ron Gostlin. “There’s no traffic, kids can run around and have fun without worrying about cars, and parents can socialize at the same time.” There are prizes for families who all come in costume.
Each of the Pioneer Village’s buildings is decorated by a sponsoring business who will be doling out goodies for trick-or-treaters. This year, MHP staff and volunteers will be decorating Beetlejuice and fortune telling-themed houses, Santa will be taking a break from Christmas preparations to team up with the Tooth Fairy, and sponsors including the Huntsville Public Library, the Nutty Chocolatier, Falls Law Group, Moose FM, Kelsey’s, the Huntsville Forester, Gerry Lantaigne, and Paranormal Muskoka will be vying for the best decorated building as judged by Mayor Scott Aitchison.
Forty jack-o-lanterns, hand-carved by Gostlin, line the pathways to help light the way and often provide some laughs, too.
The buildings in the Pioneer Village depict pre-1910 life for Huntsville’s early European settlers, and it makes you wonder what they would have thought of today’s Hallowe’en festivities.
A few news reports from the early 1900s tell of Hallowe’en – or All Hallow’s Eve – celebrations. In 1905, young people from a bible class gathered at a local home for a game of “progressive peanuts” and a sociable evening. In 1904, an ad for a Hallowe’en Carnival encouraged readers to “Come and see the Gypsies and join in the amusements of Hallowe’en night… Madam Teliski, the far-famed Polish lady will be present and forecast your future for the small sum of five cents.” Admission was 10 cents.
But the night wasn’t without hijinx, even then. A 1903 report out of Novar said, “the young women took the preachers cart apart and put it on top of a lumber pile labelled it ‘single men need a buggy that will carry double. No others need apply.'”
Also in 1903, a Port Sydney mare was daubed with paint and the premises were “bespsinkied” (your guess at a definition is as good as ours!) with paint and the doors were left open all night. Early graffiti, perhaps? The locals were having none of it. “All right thinking people are anxious that parties guilty of such despicable conduct should be brought to justice,” read the report.
Finally, in 1905, “a few depradations were done in the school-yard, but the miscreants were glad to rectify some of their mischief during the ensuing nights, also a few gates were lifted off their hinges, one of which, we are told, the owner has been unable to locate.” Fun times.
Head to Muskoka Heritage Place on October 31 and experience some modern Hallowe’en thrills instead. Admission to the Great Pumpkin Trail is $3 per head – head must be attached to a body – or $10 per family. As cute as they might be in costume, no pets are allowed – registered service animals only. The event runs from 5-8 p.m. with last admission at 7:30 p.m.
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