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“OTHS Teacher at Fright Night Fort”
November 2, 2006
By R. A. Shina
Not many people who don’t know Mr.
P. J. Smith – or are not taught by him – would ever consider the
level-toned history teacher as a scurvy pirate brandishing a sword.
However, for those who attended the Fright Night at Fort Knox on October
27 and 28, he was a scary Jack Sparrow times ten! Of course, Mr. Smith
was not alone in this horrible haunting jamboree, as there were others
in similar get ups ready to pop out of the many dark corners of the
granite walls.
Along
with the Friends of Fort Knox, Smith and the rest of the 20th
Maine reenacting Company B put on a frightening show for anyone brave
enough to get passed the ticket booth. The set up ran all through the
fort, requiring volunteers for security detail, the ticket booth, and
many of the attractions. Mr. Smith was a part of the security crew,
giving him the chance to carry a Dragoon Saber in case any little
goblins got out of line. All children under 18 were accompanied by an
adult, which helped in keeping track of most of the guests. The night
ran from about 4 PM to 9 PM, which still allowed many spooks a chance to
catch some sleep.
“It was
chilly, but fun,” the experienced reenactor said of his nights at the
fort. The weather on Friday was clear but very cold, Smith went on to
say. The second night was the worst, with lots of wind and rain. Because
of this, one of the events for children on Saturday afternoon had to be
canceled, as it was just too wet and cold for the kiddies to be running
around. “There was lots of howling and moaning, and the wind did a lot
of that,” Smith commented about the noises at the fort. Still, the
haunted park was open for the better part of the weekend thanks to a lot
of planning. Usually, it takes months to plan the Fright Night, the high
school teacher explained, but the Friends of Fort Knox and the others
that helped only had about three weeks. Having a simple budget to go by,
they pulled it off really well. Aside from the weather, everything went
on without a hitch.
“[The
scariest part was probably the] dead witch coming out of the coffin,”
Smith said when asked of his favorite attraction. There were lots of
scenes involved, some including masked people jumping out from the dark
corners of the fort and scaring the daylights out of any passersby.
Members of the 20th Maine also spent time shooting muskets,
giving lots of people incentive to enjoy not only the Halloween horrors,
but the historic wonders as well. Even so, the scares were what the
people came for. “You know it’s a good haunted house when people pay for
their ticket, step ten feet in, and then turn right around and run
back.” About a dozen people did just that, according to Smith, and there
were a lot that came a second time to be scared again.
All in
all, Smith estimates about 400-500 people attended the Fright Night,
which made parking a little hard. Yet not even the traffic troubles, the
weather, or a $5.00 fee would deter anyone from this terrifying night of
twisting dark passageways and gloomy ghosts. “The fun is in getting
scared,” one student said of the Fright Night. “You never know just when
it will get you.”
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