It’s that time of the year again! The sun sets sooner, coffee shops return pumpkin spice lattes to their menus, sweaters emerge from closets, and the leaves turn their lovely shades of red and orange. Everyone in LC senses the change, and businesses and establishments are preparing the city for the fall fun. In October, people want pumpkins, haunted houses, hayrides, and anything else that gives them that warm, fuzzy sweater feeling. The community wishes to take their friends and families to memorable fall activities, and that’s exactly what LC has in mind.
Lenoir City Parks and Rec prepares for its annual “Park After Dark” activity at Wampler Keith Park on October 24th. Starting at 5 pm, different volunteer groups, including Anchor Club at LCHS, prepare a variety of activities for children and parents alike to enjoy. Participants who come dressed in the best Halloween costume receive a prize, and members encourage parents to support their children by wearing costumes of their own. Volunteers run inflatable slides and bounce houses, and children entertain themselves for hours, giggling and asking to go again. The Parks and Rec crew also provides activities for families to do together, such as hayrides, fall picture taking, and face painting. Park After Dark suits families of all kinds and specifically caters to younger children who wish to spend the month of October dressing up and receiving candy.
Over at Deep Well Farm, personnel prepare the 35 acres of beautiful countryside for the memorable variety of fall activities that customers only have to pay $15 a ticket for. The farm contains enough space for children to explore and learn new things. Alongside the giant slides, corn pits, tire swings, hay loft, duck pond, and rock walls, children can even visit, pet, and feed the many different farm animals in the barn. High school students look back fondly on their days of field trips at Deep Well, where they got to play on elaborate playgrounds and even pick out their own pumpkins to take home. Kylie Seay (10) remembers going every year starting in first grade, and she will never forget some of her favorite memories she made there.
“I remember riding the tractor that takes you to go see the pumpkins. I liked the big slides, those were super fun, and the baby goats they were so cute you got to play with them and pet them,” Seay said.
After spending time there as a child, Seay was surprised to hear that her cousin worked there and decided to take the job after her cousin insisted on it. Seay applied to work over the weekends every fall, and the job has grown on her despite her cousin being the main reason she applied in the first place.
“I love getting to spend time with the little children, and help them make so many fun memories,” Seay said.
Teenagers get to relive their childhood experiences on the farm and may choose to go on those exciting adventures with their siblings and parents. Other inviting employees, like Seay, feel excited to give their customers the fall experience they are looking for on the beautiful land.
The haunting Halloween memories begin at Dead Man’s farm, where people go with their friends and family to experience a variety of spooky festivities. Customers walk – or run while screaming – through the Bludgeon Haunted House full of killer characters and exhilarating jumpscares. Many high schoolers grow closer together as they face their fears in the haunted house. Dead Man’s provides additional entertainment, such as Lost Souls Haunted Trail through the farm, where scarecrows and deranged women scare those who pass by. Performers in the Fire Ball show dance and blow fire into the dark of the night as entertainment for customers. Four escape rooms filled with zombies, witches, dolls, and a mad scientist also strengthen relationships as participants work under pressure and fear to complete the tasks and find their way out of the room. Alongside the spooky festivities, Dead Man’s also provides food trucks for families to eat throughout the night, bonfires to sit and enjoy each other’s company, and a pumpkin shop where customers can browse a variety of pumpkins grown right on the premises. People of all ages can enjoy their time at Dead Man’s, and make thriller memories full of running and screaming alongside corn fields and pumpkins.
Each of these fall-flavored places and events has been preparing for the season, and citizens of Lenoir City have many options for October fun. Parents can encourage their children to go out of their comfort zones by dressing up in Halloween costumes with them and playing games together at Park in the Dark. At Deep Well, kids can meet and pet farm animals they have never seen before, and go on the hayride to the pumpkin patch with their friends. Teenagers can get groups of friends together and face their fears at Dead Man’s, running from killer scarecrows and working together to outsmart the possessed dolls in an escape room. Bring friends and family out to these fall events and festivities to create connections and build relationships.
