THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 26, 1994 TAG: 9410250099
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines
Here's one for you. Ask yourself this:
Would a normal person make a shopping list with notes to pick up three gallons of black paint, fire extinguishers, extension cords and a chain saw?
Would a normal person make another list noting the monster room, the snake room, witch room, corpse room and - get this - movie room?
Would a normal person dress up like a flamingo to attend an Isle of Wight Arts League dinner?
Oh, well, I'm not much on normal people anyway. Actually, I'm kind of attracted to the bizarre.
And anyone who knows Tim Stephenson knows that he's probably about as bizarre, as abnormal, as they come. He also happens to be one of the hardest workers in the Real Smithfield Jaycees and one of the best sports in town.
Tim knows how much I love to tease him. He pays me back at every opportunity. That explains the flamingo threads.
Anyway, that's why, when Tim's fiance, Patti Kerr, called to tell me that Tim was involved in the first-ever Real Smithfield Jaycees' haunted house, I didn't mind saying: ``The very thought of being alone with Tim in a dark room scares me to death. What more can he do?''
I soon found out.
What Tim is promoting as ``The best little horror house in Smithfield'' opens Friday night at 7 p.m. It will open at the same time every night through Monday and remain open until the bewitching hour of midnight.
Or it will remain open until the Jaycees find everybody in the labyrinth of rooms they've created in their clubhouse at James and West Washington streets and get them out of there.
Last week, when the sun was just beginning to set over the Pagan River and the night's chill was starting to creep across the marshes, I got a sneak preview of some of the macabre events about to happen this coming weekend in what is normally such a peaceful little town.
Tim, along with Jaycee Mike Hochman, is co-chairman of the haunted house. Patti, of course, helped out, and about a dozen Jaycees have been working until the wee hours every night for about two weeks, Tim told me, as he escorted me through the entrance.
I told myself I had to be crazy to even be there. There was no telling what Tim had in store for me once I stepped into his trap. Surprisingly, he was well behaved that night, a rarity.
A haunted house, he said, is a logical fund-raiser for any Jaycee chapter. Jaycees across the state have done haunted houses, haunted forests, for years. The Smithfield group put off its own production for several years because the Windsor Jaycees were putting one on. So Smithfield helped with that, not wanting to invade Windsor's territory.
``We've talked to Jaycee chapters across the state,'' Tim said. ``We went out and visited a bunch of haunted houses and haunted forests last year, all the way up to Fredericksburg. I'd love to go to Bristol this year. They have an old, abandoned hospital to work with.''
This year, since Windsor isn't doing it, it's up to Smithfield, he said, with a really weird giggle.
For months, the Real Jaycees have been scouring the area for props. They found an armored man in somebody's back yard. The man was gone; the armor was still around. It was the right effect.
Also, local DJ David Sawyer, a longtime connoisseur of haunted houses, decided not to have one of his own this year, so he loaned his props - long-term, Tim said - to the club.
The guys also found a lady who lives on the Peninsula and normally decorates for Halloween who had decided not to do it this year, Tim said. She was willing to turn over even more stuff.
Props from an old dinner theater make up the interior of most of the monster mansion that has been constructed within the bowels of the Jaycee clubhouse.
``We've been really lucky on donations,'' Patti said. ``We've gotten materials, money to buy supplies. Everybody has been great.''
All of the proceeds from the haunted house will go right back into the building, Tim said. The Jaycees have been working on what once was the agricultural building of the old Smithfield High School for several years. The county Board of Supervisors recently sprung for a new roof. The Jaycees have managed to renovate the restrooms.
And by next spring, if things go well, the building will be completely renovated and available for use by anybody in the community for an affordable fee.
``We wanted to do this for the people in the town and the county,'' Tim said. ``It's a great building. It's just needed a lot of work. We want to keep the charge for using it down to a minimum. We want to share it, not as a money maker, just as a service to the community.''
Every night, Tim promised, something will change in the Jaycees' chamber of horrors. That means you can come every night it's open and still be surprised.
Entrance fee to the Real Smithfield Jaycees' real haunted house will be $3 for children under 12, $4 for adults. Refreshments also will be sold. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by LINDA McNATT
A monster with no name is flanked by Patti Kerr, left, and Tim
Stephenson, who are waiting to scare the wits out of you.
by CNB