Inside Iowa State

October 21, 2005

Halloween doings

by Linda Charles

You don't have to wait until Oct. 31 to celebrate Halloween. Start early with pumpkin carving and trick or treating at Reiman Gardens and follow it up with a "haunted" moonlit walk through the Iowa State Cemetery and across campus.

Pumpkin Carving 101 at Reiman Gardens will begin at 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22 and 29. Pumpkins and carving kits will be provided, and the staff will clean up the mess when you're done. Preregistration is required and the cost is $12.

Then from 6 to 8 p.m. on the same days, kids can go trick or treating in the gardens, where costumed mascots -- such as Cy, Smokey the Bear and Captain Corn -- will pass out treats. The event is recommended for children ages 3 to 10, and they are encouraged to wear their costumes.

In addition to trick or treating, there will be children's crafts, storytelling around a campfire, and creepy crawly hands-on stations where participants will touch items, sight unseen, and try to guess what they are.

The regular $7 admission price applies for the event.

For the adults, there's a moonlit walk from 7 to 9 p.m. on Oct. 26. After exploring the only campus cemetery in the nation, walkers will move across campus and end up at the Farm House Museum, where surprises and refreshments will await.

Participants should bring a flashlight and meet their guide at the ISU Cemetery on Pammel Drive.

Reiman Gardens will host pumpkin carving, trick or treating, crafts and other activities Oct. 22 and 29.

The traditional moonlit walk starts at the campus cemetery Oct. 26.