Thanks to all of the people who contributed to the success of the 2000 manifestation of the Hallowed Haunting Grounds. We especially want to thank all of our visitors and neighbors for their wonderful support. Details about this busy year are added below.
Changes to the Hallowed Haunting Grounds for 2000 included:
- Final wall and Arches of the Chapel Ruins
- Synchronized sound and lighting effects in the Chapel Ruins
- Seventh "Face of Man" (Death) appears in the Chapel Ruins
- Grim Reaper appears and reaches out to snuff the candle of life in the Nursery window.
- Gargoyle "Wrestling with the Passage of Time" sundial
- Phantods
- Harp with Optical String effect
Nathan builds our new harp
Gary supports the last wall of the Chapel Ruins
Gary and Mark painting the wall and window for the Seventh Face of Man
Mark coninues the painting
Tree of Souls, remains, eerie
The Femur Flautist Yellows with Age
Gary being interviewed for the America! documentary
Tormented by a strange green creature<
About the 2000 manifestation...
2000 was a challenging year for the Hallowed Haunting Grounds. The loss of our beloved pine tree, around which so much of the show was based, required much consideration. In the end we opted to plant a new "grove" to frame some of our more popular effects and props.
The Chapel Ruins were completed this year with the addition of the last of the arches and the large window at the end of the scene. Appearing in the window in a flash of lightning was the seventh "Face of Man," an ominous and imposing skull.
Continuing with the theme of the presence of death in the graveyard of desolate souls, a new scene was added this year. In that scene, the shadowy figure of the Grim Reaper appears and snuffs a candle in the window. Artwork for this effect was generously created for us by one of the very talented people in the haunting community. His name is Steve Chavez and he goes by the "nom-de-scare" of "Wraith."
In that same area was a new piece of statuary in the form of a small sundial. Atop the sundial was the figure of a gargoyle "wrestling with the passage of time." Near the base of the sundial we could occasionally see the mysterious Phantods. The Gorey-inspired creatures have glowing "eyes" and quickly appear and vanish with a quiet, rat-like scurrying sound. They are very elusive, and we were not able to obtain a good photograph of them this year. We hope they will appear again next Halloween.
We were sadly informed that this would be the last year that we would be able to borrow the harp that is played by the Skeletal Harpist. Upon hearing the news, Nathan, a great new member of our crew, volunteered to make a replacement harp. He was able to create a spectacular prop that included a fiber-optic string effect. It was finished in time to use in this year's show and is a terrific addition.
Our most difficult problem was rain. We had rain on a critical setup day and threats of rain on other days that caused some of the setup to be delayed until the last minute. The worst problem was a steady rain on Sunday that forced the cancellation of the first operating night. We so often have good weather that the show is not designed to operate in the rain. We appreciate the patience and understanding of our fans. Monday and Tuesday (Halloween) had excellent weather and, after a short delay to complete some of our postponed setup, we had a steady stream of great visitors.
We are again honored to have earned the interest of the television medium. The documentary series America! airing on the cable/satellite Odyssey Channel filmed the Hallowed Haunting Grounds for a segment entitled "It's Showtime." The segment first aired in June and should be repeated periodically. 2004 Update: The Odyssey Channel became the Hallmark Channel and America! is not on the schedule.
Thanks again to all of our friends and families who so generously contributed their time, their effort, their collections, their hardware, their humor, and even their foliage, to the success of the 2000 Hallowed Haunting Grounds.
To Previous Year
