A haunting time in Te Puke town
Epic Te Puke’s Treat Trail brings out the ghouls and ghosts
There were new features, but the tradition of dressing up and collecting lollies was still the dominant one at Epic Te Puke’s Treat Trail on Monday. Thousands thronged the streets, most garbed in some sort of costume, face paint or masks.
Te Puke Memorial Hall became the Haunted Hall for a couple of hours, and QR codes, hidden ghosts and a horror story competition all upped the ante from previous trails.
But the chief organiser, Epic Te Puke marketing manager Rebecca Larsen, only got to see a small part of it.
“I was stuck at the library most of the time, but it was so neat to see all the pictures posted [afterwards],” she says, estimating there could have been between 3000 and 4000 people in Te Puke for the event.
Along with the photos have come the compliments.
“There have been so many grateful comments coming through that I am appreciative of — people saying their kids had a blast, which is so nice.”
It was hard to know where to look — in every direction there was evidence of the time people had taken to get ready.
“Everybody put the effort into what they were wearing, and that’s a huge part of the overall drawcard, so big congratulations to so many who went over-and-above with their costumes. They just looked incredible, and some of them were just hilarious. The atmosphere was awesome.”
There was a constant stream of people waiting to get in to see the Haunted Hall, pulled together late in the piece thanks to the contribution of Andy Gowland-douglas and her collection of Halloween props.
“That added another dimension to the whole thing — the three big rooms were done up.
The main auditorium was an audio-visual space, and there were ornaments in the back room, and in the middle one, lighting and blowups.”
Te Puke Scouts set up a fundraising sweet shop in one room, while outside, Te Puke Gymsport ran a sausage sizzle. Participating businesses also came to the party.
“So many of the businesses went the extra mile with their decorating and got into costume, and the roading crew were so cool — a really friendly bunch having a good time.
“The high school students who came down, they were just awesome, and other members of the community helped out.
“Everyone just kind of came down and helped on the day, and I had people say to me, ‘You’ve got so much good support and so many helpers’, which is always really good to see.”
Rebecca says the activity showcases what Te Puke offers for people from out of town.
“Seeing the businesses that are getting behind it — there’s such a positive vibe for the community, and that goes a long way.”
In the weeks leading up to the
Treat Trail, an online horror story competition drew over 20 entries, with the winning story, The Aniseed Lolly, written by Eastern Bay of Plenty author Robin Lee-robinson.
Robin has written five books — two non-fiction works, including In Salting the Gravy, an account of 12 years of marriage to Barry Crump — and the Diary of a Kiwi Kid trilogy.
Horror hasn’t been one of her favoured subject areas, although she is working on a horror story based
in the Ureweras.
Her winning entry is a first-person tale of someone picking up a lone kuia and taking her to Te Karaka.
“It’s not based on any reality — I just thought it would be nice to have something from the past. I do believe there are people who have passed away who are around, and their spirit is around, and so a person could feel a ghostly presence,” she says.
Judge Piper Mejia said of the winning entry: “Careful crafting to create the imagery of magical realism. Engaging use of the Ma¯ori lens to develop a sense of ‘what we don’t know doesn’t have to hurt us’.”
In second place was Ghosts Don’t Upset Me by Kady Angus, illustrated by Nikki Sturrock, and in third was Coalwest by Chloe Desy.
Xakaia and Kiri-michelle Mohi (Te Patupaiarehe Kehua — The Fairy Ghost), Liliana Abate (Elloise) and Brooke Kenny (Free) were highly commended.