Rex B. Hamilton reports - 2006 PA Gathering of Haunters

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RexBHamilton
Crypt Keeper
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Joined: Mon Mar 27, 2006 11:19 pm

Rex B. Hamilton reports - 2006 PA Gathering of Haunters

Post by RexBHamilton » Sun Jun 11, 2006 9:10 pm

Rex B. Hamilton reports on the Pennsylvania Gathering of Haunters



June 11, 2006



Greetings, Fellow Haunters:



Saturday, May 27, was a gloriously pretty day in south-central Pennsylvania for the seventh annual Pennsylvania Gathering of Haunters. This was my first visit to Michael Bruner’s modest get together, situated in a historic church amid the quiet farmlands that surround the city of Mechanicsburg. Clear blue skies, brilliant sunshine and warm breezes hugged us all that afternoon.

Inside the church’s social hall, attendees were presented with an afternoon’s worth of seminars. Around 2 PM, Mike himself led off with a demonstration of how to create a different kind of Bucky skeleton by attaching a pair of latex wings made by Specter Studios, one of the vendors in attendance that day. He was followed by Susan Bruner who presented suggestions on how to create a lively scrapbook of your show’s photographs, tickets, flyers and other paper mementos.

Frightcrazy Jim Jones from Delaware’s Frightland haunted attraction was the next speaker. His topic revolved around monster mud and fiberglass for your props. Jeremy Dalessandro followed with a philosophical discourse on where the haunted attraction industry is now and what’s in store ahead.

The final class of the day was mine - a new one that I call “Five Great Haunted Publicity Events.” Every seat was filled, and they gave me a big round of applause at the end. Perhaps they were anxious to get to the door prize giveaway session which immediately followed mine. It took from 5:30 till 6:30 PM to hand out the multitude of goodies.

Earlier that day, the covered dish lunch was a big success. There was far more food for us attendees to eat than we ever have possibly consumed. The show attracted a handful of vendors, so we had haunted “stuff” to gaze at before the seminars commenced.

For the first time, I was a judge in a contest to determine the best static prop and the best animated prop. Jerry Dalessandro, whose Creepy Collection manufactures props and was a vendor that day, was the other judge. He and I carefully looked at the handful of home-made entries in both categories. Choosing the winners was difficult - you could easily tell that the haunters who created these pieces of art had invested a lot of themselves into their work.

This gathering wasn’t very large - about 75 people altogether. But there was no lack of friendship and no lack of helpfulness to be found that day. In a single afternoon, I learned something new from each of the seminar presenters, met new people and exchanged warm handshakes with old friends.

Haunting should always be like this.


Very truly yours,

Rex B. Hamilton

13939 Clifton Boulevard
Lakewood, Ohio 44107-1462
216.226.7764 (Home)
216.973.0050 (Cell)
EvilLordZargon@msn.com

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