Two months out
‘Bigger, badder, faster, stronger’
The Hauntmaster’s dream for Halloween: T
he crazy inner workings of the Meadowbrook Asy- lum will be on display again this Halloween in Frews- burg, N.Y., thanks to the efforts of 11th-grader Craig
Rodgers. The ex officio member of Zion Lutheran’s youth group
will again donate the proceeds of his homemade Halloween haunted house, called an asylum. Last year, Rodgers handed over $1,200 of the $2- and $4-ticket sales to the youth group. With the asylum’s growing popularity, he expects to triple that amount this year. Rodgers, who has been creating and producing the Hal-
loween event for the past four years, said calling the house an asylum lends itself to stunts. “There’s lots of banging on the walls,” he said. The most popular scenario is sure to be the “Butcher
Shop,” noted this Eagle Scout candidate, who likes to give back to the youth group since it was such a big part of his life. “Last year I used a lot of butcher props on loan from a friend in Warren, Pa., like foam feet, arms, legs, heads, all covered in lots of blood and put on festive decorated trays.” While he says the basic formula for blood is corn syrup and food col- oring, he stops short of giving up his secret recipe. The event is also a family affair, with his cousin acting as
the butcher, and parents, Craig and Megan, and three sib- lings helping. School friends and youth group members also play spooky parts, like working a chain saw, running around covered in cobwebs, wielding axes and being the hooded guides.
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www.thelutheran.org
SHUTTERSTOCK The Hauntmaster, as Rodgers refers to himself, said the
key to the asylum’s success last year was convincing the land- lord to let him use an available storefront at the Warren Mall rent-free. “She gave it to me, but I had to promise to give all the money to the church youth group,” he said. Not a problem for the burgeoning mechanical engi-
neer who wants to specialize in robotics and animatronics, because he really likes his church. “I’m an active member of my church,” he said. “People look to me when they need an acolyte. I’ve grown up with my parents saying, ‘We’re going to church on Sunday,’ and I liked Sunday school.” With Rodgers’ funding, the youth group purchased bean-
bag chairs and other furnishings for its room—and even turned some of the money back to buy props for the asylum. This year the storefront isn’t available, so Rodgers is nego-
tiating with his uncle to use a cabin on his farmland. While the venue is still being determined, he said the show will go on: “I’ll have the haunted house. I can’t go one year without having it.” He estimates that 700 patrons visited the asylum last year.
“Not one person exited and said, ‘Gee, that was dumb.’ My football coach was even screaming,” he said. Rodgers, who says he is all about community service,
hopes to make his Halloween endeavor “bigger, badder, faster, stronger” this year. He invites people to visit his Face- book page, Meadowbrook Asylum (
www.facebook.com/ MeadowbrookAsylum).
By Wendy Healy, a freelance writer and a member of Trinity Lutheran Church, Brewster, N.Y.
Send congregational stories—both those for a specific month/holiday or your best timeless idea—to
julie.sevig@
thelutheran.org.
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