UNION HARVEST FESTIVAL PROMISES FAMILY FUN

HAUNTED MAIDS: Brave souls will encounter these and other fearsome characters at "The Curse of the Black Widow." (Staff photo/CHRIS BAXTER).

UNION

Fall is in the air.

Before you know it the pumpkins will be bright orange and ready for scary Jack-o-lanterns and pumpkin pies.

The city of Union will be the place to be this fall for family fun at the first Union Harvest Festival. Numerous volunteers and busi-nesses throughout Union County have come together to put on a multitude of events, including a haunted house, costume parade, punkin-chunkin, scarecrow building, pumpkin painting and more.

"The Curse of the Black Widow" will open to the public Friday. Located on the third floor of the Union Hotel, the dramatic haunted house-style attraction features 21 rooms and more than 25 actors. This major production is a "very scary but not gory" haunt that has a story line with a mystery for guests to solve as they go through.

Admission will be $8 per person.

The haunt will be open Oct. 20-21, 27-28 and 30-31 from 7 to 10 p.m.

On Oct. 28 the haunt will also be open from 3 to 5 p.m. but will be toned down to be much less scary for younger children. Admission will be reduced to $5 per person during that time.

On Halloween night the haunt will open at 5 p.m.

Run by Night Fright Productions, the event sponsors include La Grande Online, Hanley's Ad & Design, Karen's Costume Collection and Pacific Empire Radio Corp.

To help you get ready for your own Halloween adventures, Karen's Costume Collection will have a costume rental shop open in the hotel during the hours of the haunted house.

On Oct. 28 Harvest Festival events will begin with a costume parade down Main Street in Union starting at 2 p.m.

Everyone is invited to join in the parade. Prizes will be awarded for best costumes and other entries.

Following the parade there will be a pumpkin carving and painting contest at the gazebo in the park. Local artist Jon Hanley will be on hand to offer a pumpkin-painting workshop.

Also in the park will be the scarecrows on display for the scarecrow building contest sponsored by the Union County Chamber of Commerce. Folks are invited to get a group of friends or colleagues together to build a scarecrow. Bring it to the park for display. Maybe win a prize.

Hayrides, meantime, will be provided by Mark Wing. That's one way to get from the park to the Punkin-Chunkin contest.

What's a Punkin-Chunkin contest?

It's all about finding out how far a pumpkin can fly. Using catapults, trebuchets and air cannons, participants aim to find out just that.

Major Punkin-Chunkin contests have been held back East, and the popularity of the sport is growing. Witness an event unlike any other as the orange orbs are hurled through the air.

On Halloween night be sure to bring the kids and come back out to Union for the Trick-or-Treat Hall at the Union Hotel. Every room on the second floor will be sponsored by different businesses and will be open to trick-or-treaters from 5 to 9 p.m.

Then, if you're brave enough, you can go to the third floor and go through the haunted house, which will be open from 5 to 10 p.m.

Pacific Empire Radio Stations will do live broadcasts from the hotel that night and they just might catch you screaming on the radio.