On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings, October 22, 23 and 24, Dinosaur Hill Nature Preserve in Rochester, will present its ever-popular Halloween Hoot.
For the 29th year, families will enjoy a crisp fall evening walking through a forest lit with luminaries and populated with many familiar (and some not-so-familiar) characters from favorite children’s stories, films, TV shows, and fairytales. Groups of 25 people will enter the woods every 10 minutes, for a 45 minute guided walk through the nature preserve, stopping along the way to view a series of short skits. This program is designed to be a fun, humorous, very slightly haunting approach to nature that is perfect for families with young children, scout groups, October birthday parties, etc.
“The Hoot is one of the area’s oldest and finest family-friendly Halloween events”, states Rita Becker (Dinosaur Hill’s Administrative Assistant), and is now an official Rochester tradition! Many families return year after year, and some of our pre-teen and teen actors remember coming to the Hoot with their families when they were little”.
“The Hoot is an especially fun event because the whole community gets involved,” says Becker. Decorative pumpkins are carved by elementary school students, skits are written and performed by high school and middle school theater club and service club members, local high school students guide groups into the woods, and members of the Rochester Junior Woman’s Club serve cider & donuts.
Coming attractions for this year’s Hoot include Halloween at the ER! (Dinosaur Hill Drama Master Class), Dancing With the Nursery Rhyme Stars (Dinosaur Hill Drama Club), Once Upon A Halloween Hoot (Adams H.S. Thespians), The Wizard of Oz & 4 Witches (Rochester PRIDE Community Group) and The Perfect Pumpkin (Kingsbury Theatre Group). The rest of this year’s skits are still to be announced, but pirates and puppets will definitely be part of the fun!
This year the Halloween Hoot will be sponsored by: Yates Cider Mill, Hollywood Super Market, Dr. John Aurelia, DDS, Oakland Animal Hospital, Drs. Hibbeln & Kowal, DDS, University Dental, and Hungry Howie’s Pizza.
Tickets are $7.00/person, and must be purchased in advance. This event usually sells out, so buy your tickets early! Admission fee includes cider & donut, guided walk with skits, and campfire with entertainment. You may purchase tickets in person at Dinosaur Hill, or through the mail. For instructions on how to order tickets through the mail, or other information, call Dinosaur Hill at (248) 656-0999, or e-mail at events@dinosaurhill.org.
