Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

'Nightmare on Main St.' nets profit for two groups

The Nightmare on Main Street haunted house has been declared a success by the two groups that sponsored the fund raiser.

The haunted house first opened on Friday, Oct. 13 and was sponsored by the Gurdon High School Close-Up program and the Diamond Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross.

Mist Calley, sponsor of the Close-Up program, said she is happy with the outcome of the fund raiser which was open on weekends through Halloween.

For a first year fund raiser it was pretty good, she said.

More than 700 people visited the haunted house, and with an admission cost of $5 per person, the fund raiser brought in more than $3,500. The money is split evenly between the two groups.

Calley said there were about 20 Close-Up students who participated in the operations of the haunted house. Several other students from Gurdon High School participated in order to receive community service time required for other school clubs such as the student council.

Mandy Shelton, program director for the Diamond Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross, said that about five Red Cross volunteers were on hand each night. She said the Red Cross purchased the materials needed for the construction of the haunted house because most of the labor was provided by students.

They did a tremendous job, she said of the students. We were there for support.

Shelton said the money raised for the Red Cross will be used locally for emergency services such as food and shelter during crises. The Diamond Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross covers Clark, Pike, Dallas, Grant and Hot Spring counties.

Calley and Shelton said they are willing to host the haunted house again in 2007 if resources permit.

The haunted house was located at the corner of Main and Second streets in a building donated to the groups by Austin Capps.