Special Events - Ghost Stories 2007
Ghost
stories is an annual event at Volo Bog and has been going on since the Friends
of Volo Bog first formed. In 1983 it was called the “Swamp Spook Walk”, and 389
people attended this event on October 30th put on by 25 volunteers. Bogeymen,
ghosts and spirits rose up out of the bog along the interpretive trail.
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Jack-O-Lanterns carved |
Setting up the stage |
Refreshment stand ready |
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Luminaries are set |
Pathways are lined with pumpkins & Luminaries to light the way |
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Pizza and drinks for all the volunteers before the sun sets and the
story telling begins |
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Donations here!! |
Tickets for refreshments |
Let us serve you!! |
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The gift shop is open |
The show goes on |
Questions anyone? |
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Photos by John Holmes |
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Hi there,
As October has drawn to a close and the "
Thanks to every one of you who knew your part and played it well.
The storytellers were fantastic! Many folks said they enjoyed hearing the
two storytellers Sue Black & Don Falkos and the way they shared back &
forth. This year's attendance continued to be on the small side although
we did have a 77% turnout - up from last years 61%. The nice weather
helped. Next year, we're not going to have a registration deadline as I'm
afraid that may have kept some away who didn't hear about it until after the deadline.
This will complicate things a bit the week prior but we'll deal with
that. We're also thinking of expanding the activities to include some
earlier stuff on Saturday afternoon and/or later stuff carrying over into
Sunday. We're looking for suggestions.
Here's some of the scoop:
Storytellers: Sue Black & Don Falkos - a great dynamic duo with good flow
and variety and almost ALL Brand New (to Volo Bog Ghost Story Listeners)
stories.
Sound Man: Rusty Winchel
Rusty knows the drill inside and out and was grateful for the full AC electric!
Special thanks to . . .
The Wednesday Night Pumpkin Carving Crew who created 60 Jack-o-Lanterns!
Thanks to Jan & Harrison Wemple with friend Matt Laszlov, master carvers
Richard Wend and Bill Ewert, Master Guttors Carl Krautwurst and myself, along
with Clarence & Bernadette Haase, and the super-creative Sharon Loris and
Pat Melchi
Our DNR guys, John L., John A., Larry, Tim and Steve, spent the week
fine-tuning the "new and improved" concession stand now complete with
electrical hookups and an orange base, making the Wednesday Pumpkin-run,
then on Friday, setting up the stage lattice and hay bales in time for Pat
Melchi to work her magic on decorations. Larry again was fantastic on the
day-of, setting up tables, signs, etc, etc, etc, etc... then standing guard at
the parking lot - a lonely task indeed.
Pat Melchi did her magic with the stage. This year she's added a Volo Bog
Ghost Stories Sign - beautiful!
Thanks to Carl Krautwurst and Yvette Liautaud for preliminary organization of
food service and the rest of the crew for pitching in that night: Richard Wend,
Chris Brenner, Nancy Bodinet, Ana Federenko,
Thanks to Kathy Kozacky & the McDaniels, Rose Carpenter (& whoever
else??) for the Pumpkin and Luminary placements.
Sound & Lighting and Entertainer's Assistant Christine Steffy did triple
duty also as trail guard and usher.
Also ushering were Pamela Duncan, Billie Kocal, John Holmes, Gail Goeke, Rose
Carpenter, Carol Shaffer and Bob Vetter assisted by trail guards Margo Milde
and Kathy Kozacky.
Billie Kocal started out as a pass collector along with Yvette Liautaud while
Bill Ewert and Fred Miller assisted guests with parking and directing guests to
enter by the donation table.
Jan Wemple, this year with new accomplice Harrison Wemple, were just
intimidating enough at the donation table to scare some generous donations out
of our guests.
Merry Miller guarded the phones and assisted guests at the desk while Nancy
Schietzelt ran the Tamarack Shop.
Finally (or shall I say, firstly) my Honey, Mike Iwanicki, who knows how to
find were he's needed most and fills in accordingly as our trouble shooter!
Here's some stats:
Temps: 60 degrees with a light breeze, dropping to about 45 by
Number of Cars: 49 out of 69 registered = 77% - not too bad.
Attendance: 227
Total Number of Guests: 201 attendees + 24 volunteers + 2 staff = 227
Pizzas eaten by volunteers: 12 - Thanks Friends of Volo Bog for the
feast.
Donations collected put the FOVB in the black!
If you have any suggestions for next year, please drop me a note on paper or by
email at dnr.volobog@illinois.gov
GHOST STORIES 2008
On
October 6 a hard working crew of Jack-o-lantern carvers working into the
night. Master Carver, Richard Wend has
been doing this for 25 years or more.
That is processing a lot of pumpkins into Jack-o-lanterns.
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Bats by Stacy |
Howard, Harrison, & Jan Wemple, Rebecca Tappens, & Ed Collins Jr. |
Stacy Iwaninicki & Carl Krautwurst |
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Richard Special |
Richard Wend & Bill Ewert |
Becca with Carl & Stacy in back |
All that hard work |
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Sick Pumpkin |
Cynthia Soderman on right, her sister on left, & daughter in front |
All ready for Ghost Stories |
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Photo by Sutterbugs Club President Gwen Selby
Ghost Story day, October 12th is here & we are setting up for the evenings’ entertainment.
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Setting up the stage and lining the walks with Jack-o-lanterns and luminaries |
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PHOTOS BY Bob Vetter
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Photos by Pat Melchi |
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After everything is set up, it is
pizza time for all of our volunteers
This years’ schedule is different then any of the last few years,
because we started early and offered Guided Bog Tours, Halloween crafts for the
children, and Ghost Walks to the Council of Pines. We also invited our guests
to bring a picnic supper to enjoy in the fresh air as they wait for the ghost
story telling to begin. Our story tellers Ben Rosenfield & Megan Wells kept
our guests clued to their seats with their spooky tales, and everybody enjoyed
the goodies served at our refreshment stand during intermission time. We had
over 300 guests attending, 33 volunteers to serve them, and the weather was
great.
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The whole evening was financed by the Friends of Volo Bog including the 13 pizzas and drink enjoyed by the volunteers |
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Jan and Karen are ready to serve, as are Nancy and
Richard |
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Kathy, Mark, and Bob (not
Pictured) did the guided Bog tours |
Sharon & Her mom Bernadette Handled Crafts |
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Photos by Bob Vetter |
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Some of the Spooky Ghosts & Goblins our guests encountered along the Ghost Walk Trail (left click each picture for names) |
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Stacy leading guests back from Ghost Walks to join others for Ghost Stories and those finishing their picnic suppers |
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The stage is set.
many of the donations have been collected, and Rebecca and |
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Photos by John Holmes
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We are still collecting from late comers, while stories are being told, and it is about time for the rush on the refreshment stand |
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Photos by Bob Vetter
Thanks to every one of you - - - who knew your part and played it well.
This year’s attendance
showed a very nice rebound with over 300 people attending. The nice weather was a strange bonus -
instead of bundling up, we were swatting mosquitoes.
As we didn’t have a
registration deadline this year, we booked to capacity by the Tuesday evening
before the stories. This was feasible by
utilizing email to send the confirmations and parking passes rather than by
requesting an SASE. Thanks Jan for the
suggestion.
We also expanded the
offerings to include crafts upstairs,
several bog tours (superb at that
time of day) and a ghost trail all held from
Here’s some of the scoop:
Storytellers Ben Rosenfield & Megan Wells entertained us with all
never-been-heard-before stories (at least by Volo Bog Ghost Story
Listeners). Meg’s style of becoming the
characters in her story, moving from one to the other with changing voices, was
amazing. I don’t think I was the only
one chewing my nails! Ben’s true tales
of strange happenings so near to Volo Bog were truly spine-tingling.
Sound Man: Rusty Winchel Rusty knows the drill inside and out.
Special thanks to . . .
The Wednesday Night Pumpkin Carving Crew who created 60
Jack-o-Lanterns! Thanks to master
carvers Richard Wend and Bill Ewert, Master Gutter Carl Krautwurst, and
precision carvers Jan & Harrison Wemple,
Bernadette Haase, Sharon Loris, Friend & Daughter and Becca Tippens
& Ed Collins Jr.
Our DNR guys, John L., John A., Larry, Tim and Steve, spent the week
setting up the concession stand, making
the Wednesday Pumpkin-run, setting up the stage lattice and hay bales in time
for Pat Melchi to work her magic on decorations. Larry as always, was fantastic on the day-of,
setting up tables, signs, etc, etc, etc, etc... then standing guard at the
parking lot - a lonely task indeed.
Bog Tour Guides Mark Ginger, Kathy Kozacky and Bob Vetter led some very special evening
bog tours - what a magical time to be in Volo Bog!
The new Ghosts & Goblins Trail was off to a good start with Meg
Macdonald as “Poison Ivy,” Jeff Gorenson as Weeping Willow, Harrison Wemple as
a creepy guy, Brian Carroll as “Trail Ghoul”,
Matthew Melchi as “Grim Reaper,” Rebecca Tippens all spooking the
passers-by.
Pat Melchi did her stage decorating magic - her artistic
creativity is a big plus! Assisting Pat
were Linda & Adele McDaniel and Pat’s son Matthew.
Thanks to Carl Krautwurst
and Yvette Liautaud for preliminary organization of food service and the rest of the crew for pitching in that night:
Richard Wend, Nancy Bodinet,
Thanks to Pamela Duncan, the
McDaniels, Savannah Eisenmann & Sara (with Mark) for the Pumpkin and Luminary placements.
Sound & Lighting and Entertainer’s Assistant Christine Steffy did quadruple duty as Goblin Leader, trail
guard and usher.
Also ushering were Pamela Duncan, John Holmes, Gail Goeke, Bob Vetter,
Meg Macdonald assisted by trail guards Margo Milde and Kathy Kozacky.
Pass Collectors Billie Kocal, Yvette Liautaud were assisted by Myrna Nelson who had the
difficult task of pre-screening folks and turning away those who where not
registered.
Parking Coordinators Bill
Ewert, and Fred Miller assisted guests with parking and directing guests to
enter by the donation table.
Donation Collectors: Jan Wemple with new accomplice Karen Vetter, were
just intimidating enough at the donation table to scare some generous donations
out of our guests.
Docent Merry Miller guarded the phones and assisted guests at the desk while
Nancy Schietzelt ran the Tamarack Shop.
Sunday Morning Cleanup – Extra Big Special Thanks to Nancy Bodinet, Gwen
Selby & Carl Krautwurst for coming back bright & early the next day for
the final clean-up!!!