RobertXGillis

RobertXGillis

25+ years of published Op/Ed columns, professional photography, my first book and more from the 28 known galaxies!

RobertXGillis
  • About Me
  • My professional photography
  • Nana – my first published book
  • Gillis Photo and Nana Videos
  • Site Map
  • Nativity

Foxboro Jaycees Haunted House 2004: Old Time Haunt

  • Foxboro Jaycees Haunted House

Introduction: From 1989-2007, the Foxboro Jaycees Haunted House was the largest not-for-profit Haunt in New England, our biggest fundraiser, an extremely popular event attended by thousands of people, and my favorite Jaycee project. This is the column I wrote for the 2004 Haunt. Of course, this is an archive, so things like show times, dates, price, and out-of-date historical context, are removed.  So why include this column here? I think it’s well worth a read because the Jaycees’ enthusiasm and dedication to our Haunted House — and helping the community — is readily apparent, as is my great love for the chapter and our Haunted House. I put a lot of passion into these columns, and the excitement of our annual boo-fest always shines through.   Those were good times.

For much more about the greatest young persons organization in the world, CLICK HERE


By Robert Gillis
Published in the Foxboro Reporter, 10/2004

In 1989, the Mansfield and Foxboro Jaycees embarked on a new, untested fundraiser – a Haunted House. By 1992, the Foxboro Jaycees Haunted House (then located at the old State Hospital) was an annual event for more than ten thousand visitors each year. That same year, Sue and I stood in line and twice took in an impressive and scary Haunted House, a visit that would lead to our joining the Jaycees the following summer.

The nineties were truly the glory days for the Jaycee Haunt; we had the underground tunnels of hospital buildings with a history far scarier than our show; lines literally around the block, nights when 1000 visitors was common, and nights we were still scaring folks past 1am.

Times change, and more and more Haunted Houses started opening, seemingly everywhere. Then, in 1999, the Jaycees were dealt a double blow: The state hospital property would require $100,000 in sprinkler and safety improvements (in a building that was effectively condemned anyway) and Spooky World moved to Foxboro.

Ever resourceful and innovative, the Jaycees switched to plan B and relocated our Haunted House to Camp Lincoln Hill on Oak Street – a massive endeavor. We were very grateful to the town for allowing us to use the property for this purpose. While we missed the tunnels and underground mazes, there was no arguing that the new location was better; the tour now took our guests through open air, into the woods, through Haunted cabins. The tour was certainly scarier in the crisp October air under the moonlight. Plus, for the Jaycee workers who started construction in August, it was great to be in the sunshine and open air, rather than the bowels of an old building during hot summer days.

Over the years the Jaycees competed with Spooky World and all the other Haunts out there. While we always competed with Spooky World, we take no joy in its closure; we extend our sincere condolences to David Bertolino on the loss of his business partner, and no one likes to see a business close for any reason. We sincerely wish the management and staff of Spooky World every success in their future endeavors.

But things are changing again. Spooky World’s closure may bring more people to our Haunt but it may be another signal that the glory days of Haunted Houses are truly over – all Haunted Houses have seen diminishing attendance over the last decade, and as a culture, people seem less interested in a scary Haunt than before. In a post 9/11 world, it seems like life is scary enough without Haunted Houses. Add to that the future of Camp Lincoln Hill is uncertain for the Jaycees, and this may very well be our final Haunt — at least – in its present form.

Thankfully, there are still thousands of people who cherish the annual event, and spend much of October checking out the various Haunted in the area, so the Jaycees have been hard at work for the last three months at Camp Lincoln Hill constructing our 16th – and we hope best – Haunted House.

The amount of manpower it takes to put together the Jaycee Haunt is staggering. To be honest, in all the years I guided folks through our Haunt, I never had a true appreciation for the sheer volume of effort that goes into construction. All that changed last year when Lauren Bitar, Dave Reid and I joined forces to create a room of our own – the jungle room, featuring a vibrating engine that literally shook the walls down. It took us nearly three months to create that room.

This year, Lauren and I are back, reconstructing the entire set for even more impressive scares. Also back this year are many of the veteran Jaycee Haunters and some folks chairing a room for the first time. The number of details for one small cabin — electrical, construction, decoration, planning, and far more – is staggering. Our construction guys have been at the camp daily since August performing a lot of miracles.

Our chairman this year is last year’s chairman — veteran Jaycee Dave Fisler is the only Jaycee in our history to chair this project twice – this is unheard of because chairmanship of the Haunted House is literally a six to nine month commitment of your life. But without Dave to chair and organize it, we would not have had a Haunt this year. To Dave, we are very grateful for this great sacrifice.

As the leaves begin to turn, work is beginning to accelerate over on Oak Street. The scripts are being written and revised, props are being created and refurbished, sheet rock is being ordered by the pallet, gallons of paint are flowing, the publicity committee is in overdrive, concessions are being ordered, and there is cleaning – and cleaning, and more cleaning. The twenty or so die-hards have been working their collective asses off for two months now and this event would not exist without their dedication.

Not to mention that once we open, it will take over 70 people to run our Haunted House each night.

So why do it? Well, as a community service and not-for-profit organization, the Jaycees need funds to host all those free events all year – concerts on the common, Santa and Easter bunny on the common, founders day activities, scholarships, thousands (yes, thousands) of dollars in donations to local charities and sports and kids, sand for seniors, family night out, and so much more. If you’re from around here, you know the Jaycee resume – we do a LOT. The Haunted House is our primary fund raiser. Unless we have a successful run each year, we are unable to do as much for the community during the other eleven months.

So here’s the bottom line, friends, please come to the Foxboro Jaycees Haunted House during October. The new rooms are scarier than ever – we have scares this year that rival anything you’ve seen elsewhere. The script is one of our very best. Every Jaycee and friend of the Jaycees you will meet at the Haunt has the same goal – give you the best show possible.

If you’ve been to see us before (and thousands of you have) you know how scary – and how much fun – the Jaycee Haunt is, and all we give back to the community. If you’ve never been to see us, now is the time. You’ll see a very professional, all-volunteer show that will make you laugh and scare the hell out of you – and you’ll benefit an organization that helps make our town a better place.

Please come see us in October–You’ll help support a variety of community services, scholarships, and donations throughout Foxboro, you’ll have a great time doing so! We hope to see you at our Haunt!

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

Related Posts via Categories

  • There will not be a Foxboro Jaycees Haunted House in 2008
  • Foxboro Jaycees-Orpheum Haunted House 2006 and 2007
  • Foxboro Jaycees Haunted House 2002 (Nightmares on Oak Street) and 2003 (Jungle Horror)
  • Foxboro Jaycees Haunted House 2001: Travel Through Time
  • Foxboro Jaycees Haunted House 2000: Frontier Fright
  • Foxboro Jaycees Haunted House 1999: Camp Fright
  • Foxboro Jaycees Haunted House 1998: The Village
  • Foxboro Jaycees Haunted House 1997: The University
  • Dark shadows; bright future: Jaycees haunted house demonstrates a sense of community
Spread the love
October 1, 2004 Robert Gillis 0

Post navigation

Red Sox Win the World Series → ← The scales of justice

My Professional Photography

Buy My Book!

Go to Nana Book website

Follow Me!

  • Facebook

RobertXGillis.com Categories (Drop Down Menu)!

Category Cloudy Thingy!

A must read Avoiding Fraud Backstreets Boston Bruce Springsteen Catholic / Church Christmas CNN image Computers / Tech Current Events / News Commentary Current News Story Parody and Humor Dorchester Foxboro Foxboro Founders Day Foxboro Jaycees Foxboro Jaycees Haunted House Foxboro Reporter Image Halloween Holidays - Other Humor Life events, Gratitude and Giving and Little Miracles Mass Shootings Memorials Movies Music My fiction (80s/90s) Nana Book NASA Image New Hampshire News image from Web New Year Not The Best Pets Politics Scanned From Newspaper Microfilm Seniors September 11, 2001 Slow News Day Humor Sports Star Trek Superman Superman and Friends - Comic Book Humor and Parody Television Uncategorized Web / Email / Internet / Social Media

Robert Gillis Site Archives From the 28 Known Galaxies

Weekly Popular!

  • A dream come true, meeting Joanna Cameron, star of… (19)
  • Memo: Cost-cutting measures during these tough… (9)
  • Memories of an Intensive Care Nursery at Saint… (9)
  • Gun Show! (The Gun Show Loophole) (9)
  • Silver Age Comics: Spanking your super kids, a great… (8)
  • An interview with Joanna Levesque, aka “JoJo” (7)
  • Grieving the Saint Kevin’s Property (7)
  • Silver Age Superman Comics Review: The irresistible… (6)
  • An historical quest fulfilled: Finding the Willey… (6)
  • Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus, you betcha! (6)
  • Review: SUPERMAN II: THE RICHARD DONNER CUT (5)
  • Silver Age Comic Book Sillyness: Watch the skies! (5)
  • More fun with Superman and Wonder Woman comics:… (5)
  • Bruce Springsteen at Fenway Park September 6 and 7, 2003 (5)
  • More Silver-Age Lois Lane comic book madness! (5)
  • A year later, America is still a great nation, under God (5)
  • The customer, most assuredly, is NOT always right: A… (4)
  • Pictures of Saint Kevin Church June 2003 (4)
  • What was the Silver Age of comic books? Superman,… (4)
  • Silver Age Comic Books: Superman stops the… (3)
  • Memories of Halloween (3)
  • Dinner with Mom brings back Memories of Christmas Past (3)
  • Retro-Review: A Christmas Carol (1938) starring… (3)
  • The Weakest Link (3)
  • Silver-Age Superboy comic book (in)justice! (3)
  • Popular posts by Top 10 plugin

Most Popular On This Site!

  • A dream come true, meeting Joanna Cameron, star of… (16,749)
  • An interview with Joanna Levesque, aka “JoJo” (6,160)
  • A letter to Mom on Christmas Day (3,657)
  • Memo: Cost-cutting measures during these tough… (3,309)
  • Silver Age Comics: Spanking your super kids, a great… (2,732)
  • Memories of an Intensive Care Nursery at Saint… (2,338)
  • Thoughts on visiting seven churches on Holy Thursday (1,717)
  • Father Steve Madden leaving Saint Mary’s… (1,625)
  • Grieving the Saint Kevin’s Property (1,542)
  • The National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette in… (1,514)
  • The customer, most assuredly, is NOT always right: A… (1,401)
  • More Lucy Lane and Lois Lane Silver-Age Comics Sillyness! (1,215)
  • Katy Perry’s “Firework:” A message every teen needs to hear (1,045)
  • Silver-Age Comics fun: Going to the chapel, and… (1,042)
  • What was the Silver Age of comic books? Superman,… (1,040)
  • Popular posts by Top 10 plugin

Copyright and Legal

All site content copyright © 2020 by Robert Gillis except where specifically noted. All rights reserved. THIS IS A PERSONAL WEBLOG (“BLOG”). THE OPINIONS AND COMMENTARY EXPRESSED HERE REPRESENT MY OWN AND ARE NOT THOSE OF MY EMPLOYERS (PAST, PRESENT NOR FUTURE).

About images:

I do my best to use my own photos to illustrate a post (and copyright to all my images remains with me), but sometimes I need to use an image from, say, a sports logo, a TV show or movie, or something I could not possibly get on my own, for example, an image of the international space station. I always credit the original owner (if they can be determined) but in ALL cases, whether credited or not, any images I didn’t photograph myself remain the property of the original copyright holders. This site does not imply any ownership of such images or materials, and such images are used here for commentary / illustrative / entertainment purposes only, under what is believed to be fair use guidelines, and absolutely no copyright infringement is intended.

Powered by WordPress | theme SG Double