The staff and kids at Heartland Youth Center in Stettler are gearing up for some October fun and spooky excitement.
After being short-staffed for the first few weeks, the Center now has a full complement of adult helpers for the kids programs offered by the Center.
“One of our staff is on maternity leave, and others were summer students who went back to university,” Winnie Bissett, the Center’s director, said. This year, new staff include Courtney Schell, Madison Serega, and Stefan du Toit. The other Boys and Girls Club staff are Keirsten Docherty, Sarah Syvret, and BGC Director Sara Wengryn.
This year, the Center is doing something new for Halloween, a partnership that formed between Bissett and Brenda’s Cozy Café owner Brenda Brinson over a campfire discussion.
On Friday, Oct. 31, HYC youth will be working with the Café to host Brenda’s Creepy Café lunch. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased from the HYC or Brenda’s Café before Oct. 29. There’s three sittings for lunch, 11 a.m. to noon, noon to 1 p.m., and 1 to 2 p.m. Partial proceeds from the day will go to fund HYC programs.
Big Brothers Big Sisters Stettler will also host its “Most Gourd-geous Pumpkin” contest, with the winner being chosen on Oct. 27. Anyone can take part, and submit photos of the carved gourd to hyc.bbbs@telus.net for judging by Oct. 24. Judges for the event will be the Big and Little siblings from the program.
The photos will also be posted on the HYC Facebook page, where people can vote for their favourite pumpkins.
Haunted House at the Mall returns on Thursday, Oct. 30. The haunted house runs from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., and includes carnival games as well. The cost to enter is $5.