September 17, 2022

By Fred Liggett
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Over the Labor Day holiday a number of area high school students spent time at the lake, time with friends or had shifts at a summer job. For a number of Lee’s Summit North students time was spent at a haunted house as part of SantaCaliGon Days Festival in Independence.

About 25 students participated in a pop-up haunted house called Haunted Trails. The students would work in shifts inside a full basement of a building at 111 N. Main St. The main tenant is 3 Trails Brewing Company in downtown Independence. The basement provided around 4,000 square feet of space for this fun seasonal event. Normally the basement is an event space filling a number of meeting needs.

Not only did the students from LS North have fun performing but entertained over 1,000 customers that went through the doors over the three-day holiday weekend. A portion of ticket sales on Friday night went to Van Horn High School theater department, while LS North National Honor Society and theater department received a portion of Saturday and Sunday night sales.

A large number of items used at the Haunted Trails event came from Paradise Park which used them for their annual hayrides. Carson Groff, a Lee’s Summit North graduate, purchased the props from Paradise Park after the venue closed.

There is still time for anyone wishing to check out this Haunted trail as the three-day holiday weekend served as a soft opening to an upcoming Halloween season. From Sept. 30 through October 31 every Friday and Saturday night the venue will be open from 6 to 10 p.m.

To learn more about the Haunted Trails haunted house visit the event’s Facebook page which will be updated throughout the season. For those who do attend be aware of high school students having a hauntingly good time performing together while raising money for a worthy cause.