Halloween thrills this Saturday

Grand Canyon School to host annual carnival of wonders

GRAND CANYON, Ariz. ­- An evening of fun and Halloween excitement is on tap for the entire family, thanks to the annual Grand Canyon School Carnival. The thrills will begin at the school this Saturday and is scheduled to run from 6-9 p.m. The high school's student council organized the event, which will be held this year in the school's multi-purpose room. A number of fun activities are planned for the carnival, including booths, games, face painting, food, a cakewalk and even a haunted house.

Music teacher George Haughton said the carnival is one of the school's biggest annual fundraisers.

"It's very well received. We get probably 300 people there. It's one of the biggest events here at the school," Haughton said, adding that response for this year's gala has been positive so far.

"It's been pretty good. A lot of the same groups that have done it the last several years have signed on (this year). All the high school classes, they will all have a couple booths," Haughton said.

While admission for the event is free, tickets to play games or purchase food will cost 25 cents each, according to Haughton.

"They use those tickets to play the games, buy food," Haughton said. "Some of the games are two tickets, etc."

Space is still available for anyone interested in hosting a booth, though interested parties should make their requests by 4 p.m. tomorrow. Local clubs and organizations interesting in hosting a fundraiser are charged $10 for a booth. Anyone interested in reserving a booth, or for more information on the carnival, contact Haughton at the school by calling (928) 638-2461, ext. 204 or via e-mail at georgeh@grandcanyonschool.org.

"The organizations that have a booth at the carnival; they pay the student council $10 for every booth they set up. Anything over the $10 is their profit. We don't make very much money on the carnival itself, but we use the money for school projects. Coming up here, we're going to buy new lunch trays for the school's cafeteria." Haughton said.

Some funds are also used to help with transportation costs for the annual senior trip, Haughton said.

"Part of the student council fundraising is we sponsor a trip in the spring to either Magic Mountain or Disneyland. We went to Disneyland last year," Haughton said. "The kids have to provide their own way into Disneyland and the food, but we provide the transportation."

This Halloween marks Haughton's eighth year helping to organize the carnival with members of the student council. He called the annual carnival a "school tradition."

"Mostly elementary through sixth grade (comes), a lot of kids and their parents come, but we do get everybody," Haughton said.

The haunted house, he added, is typically a highlight of the event and offers a number of ghostly thrills for those brave enough to enter.

"Usually that is a student council project, but we gave it to the junior class this year. They needed money for the prom," Haughton said. "When it's all set up they have a person take a group of kids through it, like a tour."