Woodridge Park District 68 will be kicking off the Halloween season by transforming Hawthorne Hill Woods into a spooky trail to host their annual Haunted Forest Walk on Oct. 20 and 21. The walk will take place from 6:30-9 p.m. for the evening sessions and 1-3 p.m. for the matinee session on Saturday. Tickets this year will be $5 for the matinee and $8 for the evening.

Recreational Supervisor Kathi Wencewicz is in charge of organizing the event. This year many different local organizations will create haunted scenes that people will walk through and these scenes will be judged by the visitors.

“Currently we have three different Boy Scout troops, and we also have a baseball team. Each group does a theme for their scene, but we don’t have an overall theme,” Wencewicz said.

Wencewicz is also in charge of organizing the volunteers for the event. According to the Woodridge Park District website, this year people can volunteer by hosting scary scenes in the woods or dressing up and scaring visitors as they wait in line.

“The groups are about 100 [volunteers] combined, and as far as additional volunteers that help out in various different areas of the event, there will add about 40,” Wencewicz said.

Senior Ben Espinoza volunteered at the Haunted Forest Walk for the past three years and will be volunteering again this year.

“I was at the end of the trail after all the attractions and was in charge of asking all the visitors their favorite attraction, the scariest one, and give the data back to the district,” Espinoza said.

Senior Zach Cotner has volunteered for this event for the past two years and will be returning again this year.

“I had a lot of fun both times. I thought it was a really good way to help out in the community, volunteer, but also have fun with friends. It was a good thing to be a part of,” Cotner said.

Both Cotner and Espinoza found out about the volunteer opportunity through Key Club, a community service organization. Advisor of Key Club at DGS, Amy Klug explained how students could volunteer through the club after they sign up on the D99 webstore.

“We publish sign-ups for all of the different activities we do. One of our officers is in charge of creating the sign-ups and putting them online,” Klug said.

Last year’s winners of the scene judging were: in first place Doll House, second place Haunted Holidays and in third place Labyrinth of Lost Souls.

If you would like to volunteer for the Haunted Forest Walk, you can contact Kathi Wencewicz at the Woodridge Park District or register through Key Club.