Last weekend, the Big Lake Cheer Booster Club hosted the first annual Taste of Terror haunted house as a fundraiser. The students on the Big Lake cheerleading team worked very hard to set up the haunted house and put on an impressive production.

COVID-19

A lot of the cheerleading club’s usual fundraising activities had to be put on hold due to COVID-19. So, the team put their heads together to come up with a fundraising idea that would be COVID-friendly.

Coach Derek Nelson said that the haunted house idea was perfect for them. The students were excited to do an extravagant, halloween-themed event, and they could control the number of people in the house at any given time. Between groups, a UVC light was used to disinfect the area for the next group.

Groups could buy tickets for time slots to enter the haunted house, and no more than 250 people were allowed in the area at any time.

Help from the Community

The team called lots of businesses and groups around the community, trying to find ways to take the haunting to the next level. Managers of the Sherburne County Fairgrounds said that they had space for the students to host their event. Dave Gess, of Gess What’s Cooking, volunteered to bring his food truck, and even asked some of his fellow vendors to come. Costumes and decorations came from the Halloween Fun Shop in Rogers. The Taste of Terror Facebook page also thanked General Rental Center, Fresh Acres, Xai the Corn Guy, and Novalee Skulls for sponsoring the event and greatly contributing to its success.

Setting up

For two weeks, the cheerleaders helped to set up the event after school, and their coaches were often there late into the night. Assistant coach Ben LaClaire said that the Sherburne County Fairgrounds allowed the group to start setting up two weeks in advance, since they had so many cancelled events. LaClaire said he had no idea how they could have gotten done in time if the fairground managers hadn’t been so generous both with the extra time given and even contributing time to help out.

Spooky Fun

The haunted house succeeded in being incredibly spooky. Laser fields, hanging decorations, and false walls hid cheerleaders in monster costumes ready to jump out at and, in some cases, chase down patrons.

Outside the haunted house, patrons could enjoy the “Scare Zone”- an area set up with picnic tables where guests could enjoy food from the food trucks and take in the spooky atmosphere after braving the haunted house.

In all, the event was a big success, and coaches hope to host the event annually for many years to come.