Welcome to the Spooky Season
Yes, Halloween is still 10 days away, but what’s the fun in waiting? Plus, if you wait for October 31 you will miss the lead up to the big day, which includes a lot of local events.
So, welcome to the Spooky Season. It’s time to get your ghoul on.
“Who Needs a Full Moon?”
Webster City Community Theatre opens its 2023-2024 season with a one-act comedy to put you in the Halloween mood.
Be aware: The show dates are this week, Friday, October 20, and Saturday, October 21, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, October 21, and Sunday, October 22, at 2 p.m.
Five female werewolves have taken up residence in an abandoned cabin in secluded woods. Their fear is that one of them has been bitten by a human! Could she actually be turning into a human? Doo doo doo doo …
The cast includes Kelly Anderson as Millie, Susan Andrew as Eloise, Nikki Ehn as Rosie, Ann McLaughlin as Beatrice, and Mary Sealine as Lucy.
“Who Needs a Full Moon?” was written and directed by Sally Evans of Stanhope. She is assisted by production manager Katie Hildal.
Tickets are $12 and can be reserved by calling 515-832-4456, online at wcctboxoffice@gmail.com, or stopping at the box office at 1001 Willson Ave., Webster City. The box office is open one hour prior to show time.
Brigg’s Woods Halloween Event
This event is so close it could scare you.
The Briggs Woods Halloween Event at the Briggs Woods Park and Golf Course Hamilton County is Saturday, October 21.
This is a nonalcoholic family event. All ages are welcome. From 5 to 7 p.m. there will be trick-or-treating in campgrounds at the park south of Webster City off Iowa Highway 17.
From 5 to 7 p.m. people mover rides start at the beach and go to the campgrounds and back.
Also from 5 to 7 p.m., there will be a light meal at the beach shelter sponsored by the Webster City Church of Christ for the first 350 people who attend the event. Free will donations will support the Naturalist Program.
Campers, decorate your campsite, bring your own candy to hand out to kids trick-or-treating. Awards will be given for the two best decorated campsites that evening by the Park Ranger and the campgrounds host.
If you’re trick-or-treating, park at the beach lot and come in costume and trick-or-treat in the campgrounds. If you’re going on the people mover rides, park at the beach lot to get on a ride to the campgrounds.
For questions call 515-832-9570 or email jlaird@hamiltoncounty.org.
Screamfest 2023 at Haunted Barn
The barn is back and it’s spookier than ever.
The Haunted Barn is located at 2367 220th St., Webster City, which is east of Webster City along old Highway 20.
The barn will be open on Saturday, October 21, from 6:30 to 11 p.m. The cost is $10 at the door and — beware — this is a cash-only event.
Three interconnected barns will have you disoriented and afraid to round the next corner. Boo! Experience the serial killer area, creepy dolls, clowns, moratorium, spiders, butcher shop, cemetery, swamp, funeral home, and skeletons’ lair. Plus, the Scream Team can’t wait to meet you in the most unexpected places!
The Haunted Barn will also be open October 27 and 28, so if you miss it this weekend there will still be time to be scared out of your wits.
You will wait in the warmth and comfort of your car until the parking attendant summons you. Note: If your group is coming in multiple cars, enter the driveway at the same time. The way the haunt is set up, the line cannot be held up while the rest of your group gets there.
Grab some friends, jump in the car and come get your scream on!
Death by Chocolate
Wildcat Distilling Co. Tasting Room will present the thrilling whodunnit mystery on Friday, October 27.
What’s there to be afraid of? Thrilling whodunnit, hot appetizers, and guided dessert and whiskey-tasting pairings.
The thriller Death by Chocolate begins on Easter Sunday, April 15, 1900. Paris is the center of world attention as millions of visitors arrive for the opening weekend of the International Exposition. Among them is an elite but diverse group of individuals staying at the Hotel Paradiso. As they gather for dinner, however, the peace of the hotel is rocked by an explosion. Billy Bonka, the foremost chocolate manufacturer in America, is found dead in his room, having apparently been killed by an exploding Easter Egg. Suspicion falls on the people around this table.
It’s up to you to uncover the mystery of who killed Billy Bonka. Fortunately, the famous amateur detective Hercule McClue is on hand to assist with your investigations. While trying to solve the thrilling whodunnit mystery, you’ll enjoy hot appetizers, and several guided dessert and whiskey-tasting experiences
“This event is sure to be fun for all. We have an evening planned that will let you enjoy solving a fun mystery and taste our award-winning whiskeys along with great food and, of course, chocolate!” states Amanda Lemke, Wildcat Co. Tasting Room manager. “And I look forward to seeing the period costumes our visitors may be wearing.”
Early 1900’s period dress is encouraged to add to the fun but not required.
Doors at Wildcat Distilling Co. Tasting Room located at 626 Second St., Webster City, will open at 5 p.m. on October 27.
The event starts at 6 p.m.
This special event is limited to 40 seats total. So grab your tickets before all the super sleuths swipe. A portion of all proceeds will be given to the Webster City Community Theater (WCCT) summer theater program. Call 515-524-6018 for tickets.
Additional information about Wildcat’s award-winning whiskeys and the tasting room is available at www.wildcatdistillery.com and info@wildcatdistillery.com or by calling 515-524-6018.
Residential Trick-or-Treating
Webster City’s residential trick-or-treating night is Saturday, October 28.
The hours are from 5:30 to 8 p.m.
Downtown Trick-or-Treating
Downtown trick-or-treating in Webster City will be on Halloween, Tuesday, October 31, along Second Street between Superior and Prospect streets.
This event runs from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Cross street closures will begin at 3 p.m. Those streets will remain closed until 6 p.m. to ensure the safety of the trick-or-treaters.
It’s all so spooky.
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Jan Faint would never describe herself as a trailblazer. She’s too humble for that. Those who know her, know her as a quiet, friendly woman with a passion for the livestock industry, beef shows and Mary Kay cosmetics. But Faint managed to do what few women of her generation would have even tried. She built a career for herself in ag business long before girls were even allowed to join the Future Farmers of America. FFA was still known by its full name when Faint graduated from Webster City High School in 1959. But the fact that FFA was still “boys only” didn’t hold Faint back one little bit. She was a 4-H’er in the Blairsburg area and, in those days, Hamilton County offered a countywide club for girls in livestock. Faint could have written the book on girls in livestock. But she maintained that her brother was the real showman in the family. “My brother was a natural at it,” she said. The late Tom Faint would spend his life as a rancher in Nebraska. All three Faint children — Tom, Jan and Penny — spent their childhood summers in two places: the barn and the show ring. “I only showed cattle,” she said. “My sister showed horses and cattle, and one year she showed hogs.” Regardless of the species, the Faint kids knew that if they wanted to show they had to put in the work long before show day. “We didn’t have somebody else getting the animals ready for us,” Faint said. “We were out there at six in the morning doing chores, and we were still out there at six at night brushing the cattle.” Faint and her father, the late Bob Faint, were regulars at every Hamilton County Beef Show for decades. Bob Faint, a buyer at the former Central Iowa Stockyards, was well-respected for his knowledge of livestock. But he wanted his children to learn for themselves. “We were independent,” Jan Faint said. “We did our own, and never had anyone else work our cattle.” A career in agriculture seemed like a natural for her. She went to work in advertising for the Drover’s Journal, working in Omaha and Kansas City before moving on to the Western Livestock Journal in Denver. “I handled all of the national accounts,” Faint explained. “I did all of the ads. I had two guys who laid out the ads, but I oversaw what went into the paper and I always talked to the breeders.” Proving that there’s still a little ink in her blood, she noted that she always encouraged advertisers to take advantage of color at a time when newspapers were mostly black and white. In those days, color was done in four separations of CMYK — or cyan, magenta, yellow and black. Put them all together and an ad comes to life in beautiful full color. “I enjoyed the people,” Faint said of her days in ag journalism. Eventually, she returned to Webster City and spent several years working in a local law office. She also joined the Hamilton County Cattlemen and served 25 years on the organization’s board. She retired from the board about two years ago. Faint is still a regular at all of the area livestock shows. Hamilton County Cattlemen recently hosted its annual Junior Beef Show and Faint was impressed with all of the new exhibitors who took part. “I went through the book and there were all these new names,” she said. “I hardly recognize any of them. It’s a whole new set.” And that’s just what the Cattlemen’s group wants to see — a new generation making a way for themselves in the livestock industry. “We started this show right after I went on the board,” Faint noted. “I said, ‘I think we need to have a Junior Beef Show,’ and some folks said, ‘What’s that?’” This year there were some 120 to 130 cattle exhibited at the show at the Hamilton County Fairgrounds. The two-day show was hosted on Saturday by Cattlemen from Kossuth County, while Hamilton County hosted on Sunday. The two-day event helps draw more competitive exhibitors. “These kids are showing for points,” Faint explained. “They are showing every weekend and sometimes in a couple of shows a weekend.” Faint will always have a good eye for cattle, but she also has a good eye for youth who know their way around the show ring. “It’s fun to see the kids that can handle it in the ring and know what they are doing,” she said. For Faint, a love of livestock that started on the farm as a kid has proven to be a good way to make a living, as well as a life. “I always look forward to the shows,” she said. “It just gets in your blood, and you meet a lot of people.”
For women in ag journalism, she blazed the way
