Ghost Ridge earnings down from last year

Halloween is scary enough.

Christmas is even scarier, if you’re a volunteer at the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Christmas Hamper Society.

Halloween wasn’t even over and calls were coming in from people wanting to get on the list for a Christmas hamper, said Lorraine Bates, a volunteer with both the hamper society and Ghost Ridge Haunted House.

People started calling the office at Maple Ridge Fairgrounds three weeks ago inquiring about getting on the Christmas list, said Bates.

“That is a scary one because I think it’s going to be a bad year,” she said.

As for Ghost Ridge, which raises money for local groups, they too will have to do with less.

Receipts from the spooky event dropped to $22,048 – about $2,234 less than last year.

“I guess it’s just a sign of the times,” Bates said.

The adult part of the Ghost Ridge was open for seven days while the Kids Ghost Ridge Haunted House opened an extra day on Halloween.

But few showed up for the Halloween afternoon which included a carved pumpkin contest and a dog Halloween costume contest.

“That really shook me. That was a shocker. I don’t think we’ll do that again,” Bates said.

Next year, with Halloween on a Sunday, Ghost Ridge can open on two weekends with a break in between, to give volunteers a rest.

Once the bills are paid, the Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows Agricultural Association, the Royal Canadian Air Cadets Squadron 583, the Ridge Canoe and Kayak Club, Millennium Players and the Society for Creative Anachronism, will split the proceeds.

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