Scares sprouting at town farm
The Herald News - Jay Pateakos, reporter - October 9, 2008
If there was ever a time to fear the woods or dusk for that matter, that time would be now.
Simcock Farm on Marvel Street is offering haunted hay rides beginning Friday, just in time for Halloween. Spread out over 5 of the farm's 30 acres, an aging farm tractor is set to pull up to 20 thrill seekers at a time through the darkening corn fields and woods surrounding the farm.
Farm co-owner Beverlyann Simcock, who narrates the second-year hayride as "Witchy-Poo", replete with long purple hair, reveals very little about the 30-minute ride - better to keep the riders in suspense the whole way. She admits the trip may not be ideal for people who aren't looking for a scare or who don't like surprises popping out from the dark. "Last year, we kind of threw it together last minute, but we heard a lot of good things," she said. "This year we've planned a little more and shaken things up."
Instead of running the hayride alone, Beverlyann and her husband Jim partnered with eight other individuals that will share the work and the proceeds. "I couldn't see us doing that on our own, " said Jim, who farms every day with his wife, who is an accomplished violinist when she's not donning a half-hour of witch makeup.
Jim, who rides the tractor through the cornfields and forests as a burned-up psychopath killer, said the rides will start at 6:30 p.m., half an hour earlier than last year. "We had someone that rode the hayride four times in a row and was telling people what to expect," Jim said. "We've changed things around this year."
One of the things the Simcocks did reveal is that they will continue to have creatures coming out of the woods toward the spectators gathered in the wagon, but they will also kick the frights up a notch. "We did our research and went to other hayrides and found that they never interacted with the people in the hayride; they kind of just stood there," said makeup artist Solarck Sou, who also contributes to the scarers in the woods. "Here, we interact with the people, sometimes even coming into the wagon, which gets alot of screams. We get right into the people's faces and I think that's the best part. Last year we actually had the wagon being chased by monsters on dirt bikes."
Beverlyann said there is also something along the way involving maggots, but she was coy about the details.
Jim said the ride will start out at the barnyard on Marvel Street, making its way through the cornfields, then on to the woods before circling back to the barnyard. Last year the rides were open to those age 13 and older, but Beverlyann said a number of 6- and 7-year-olds showed up in pajamas, so there will be no such age restriction this year.
Beverlyann said the hayride is one of the many agri-tourism ideas they've conjured up to get people to visit their farm. "I understand because of the economy that people are growing their own vegetables, but this hurts the farmer and we have to continue to come up with ways to back the farm," said Beverlyann of their agri-tourism initiatives, including the hayride and the ice cream stand. "People will complain about the price of a tomato but they won't say anything about the price of ice cream. I don't get it. People like to see farms but they have to also support them."
The Fright Night Scary Hayride will take place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights starting this week and continuing through Halloween. Rides will depart every half hour from 6:30 to 10 p.m.
Jim Simcock admits piloting the nightly hayrides is slightly different than how he spends the other 16 hours of his day - but that's not necessarily a bad thing for him, or the people set to join him in the woods. "Everybody likes Halloween and likes to have a shot of adrenaline when you least expect it and this should provide that," said Jim. "It gets pretty dark in the woods at night."