The 5th Annual Haunted Horse Park will take place at the Mississippi Horse Park on Oct. 28, 29 and 30.
The Haunted Horse Park is a haunted house geared towards all ages. Doors open at 7 p.m., with a kid’s hour. Activities will continue until midnight each night with their ‘lights out’ section. There is a $5 entry fee for those over the age of three. Most of the proceeds will go to charitable organizations in Starkville and the rest of Mississippi.
This year, Diana Gordon, Program and Activities Director for Residence Hall Association, will be heading the event.
“The main purpose of the night is just to have a safe, fun night during the Halloween season. It gets the community and people on campus involved,” Gordon said.
Preparations for the project began in September, but Gordon has been working the Haunted Horse Park, since last year.
This year, the project will raise money towards organizations like, The Boys & Girls Club of Starkville and the Blair E. Batson Children’s Hospital in Jackson. Gordon is aided by her team of volunteers and executives such as Nicholas Harris.
“Our goal is to raise more money than we did last year, to have more fun than we did last year. It’s really a blast,” Harris said.
As the president of the executive board for RHA, Harris’ job is to help the program come to life. Last year, the Haunted Horse Park raised $16,000 to gift to local charities and organizations.
Each year, the project has continued to raise more funds with this year poised to be the biggest year yet.
Bricklee Miller, the facility director of the Mississippi Horse park will be hosting the event.
“We’re excited to host the horse park again this year,” Miller said. “It’s a family friendly event that has grown throughout the years that the community looks forward to every year. There’s nothing in the area quite like it.”
Anyone interested in becoming a volunteer for the event can contact Diana Gordon at [email protected]. Gordon is also looking for local businesses to sponsor the project. Volunteers will be needed for setup, manning the haunted house, ticket sales and tearing down the house.
Those looking for more information can go to http://www.rhamsu.org/haunted-horse-park. The Mississippi Horse Park is another division of the Mississippi State University Extension Service and is located at 869 East Poor House Road in Starkville.