by Nick Dill, Student Reporter
aerial photo
taken from a drone in fall 2019.
Employees with Bradt’s Menagerie set up a hay maze every year during the fall, but they add a twist to it by having a haunted hay maze.
The haunted hay maze occurs only three days out of the year from Oct. 29 to Oct. 31 from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. each night.
JoDe Bradt, co-owner of the Menagerie, said the maze has about 1,000 round bales of hay. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday before Halloween, employees put some “scarers” in the maze. She said there’s also a scavenger hunt throughout the maze.
Jerad Bradt, co-owner of the Menagerie, said it takes a couple of days of preparation to set up the maze. He said workers have to place props throughout the maze, including a large coffin, a smoke machine, and lights and sound equipment. JoDe Bradt said it’s not a huge transition, but that it takes a lot of preparation time.
The haunted hay maze costs $5 per person, and there is no capacity limit.
“If people are concerned about being in close quarters, it’s a large outdoor area, and there is plenty of room to spread out,” JoDe Bradt said. “We have made the pathways even wider than we have in the past so that people can continue to distance.”
Jerad Bradt said workers have put hand sanitizer at each stamp station.
The haunted hay maze includes a lot of volunteers.
“We normally have 30 to 40 people, but it depends,” Jerad Bradt said. “Halloween night kind of scares us trying to get volunteers. Several of our volunteers are adults, and they want to go trick-or-treating with their kids.”Jerad Bradt said one question he gets all the time is whether the maze is appropriate for young children, especially children around the age of 6. He said the answer depends on the child.
“There are some people that say, ‘Oh, that wasn’t even scary,’ and that’s OK because maybe you’re watching some really freaky movies, and so you’re not scared by these things,” JoDe Bradt said.
Jerad Bradt said he likes that his family has the maze to offer. He said Alva has had haunted houses in the past, but they have all fizzled out.
JoDe Bradt agreed. She said it’s fun to see the costumes come through the hay maze.
“We are blessed that people want to come out,” she said.