KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2010 / NEWS
LOCAL
3A
Terror is in the territory with new 'Haunted Farm'
Jessica Janasz/KANSAN
BY ALLYSON SHAW ashaw@kansan.com
Steve Cates, originally from Andover, discusses his most recent creation at his home near Clinton Lake where he runs his Haunted Farm. The Halloween event is for both kids and adults and will be open Friday and Saturday night.
It was a dark, chilly Friday night when five college-aged men walked up to the Haunted Farm. They told each other that they don't get scared. But Steve Cates, who overheard the conversation, just saw that as a challenge.
That's when Cates, owner of the Haunted Farm, got on his walkie-talkie and told his actors to give it 100 percent.
"They were running out of here crying like babies," Cates said of the formerly boastful boys.
This is the first year that Cates officially opened the Haunted Farm, 1029 N. 1156 Rd. For three years he's been scaring his neighbors and friends with witches, corpse, mad scientists, zombies and clowns in his barn. Before that, he scared trick-or-treaters with props on his front porch.
This year Cates has moved his attraction from his barn to a structure he built in his backyard. The Haunted Farm also includes a haystack maze, a vortex tunnel and cemetery.
His house is at the end of a country road and is surrounded mainly with fields. It's just 10 minutes from downtown, but it feels like the middle of nowhere. It's a long walk through a tree orchard from the maze to the cemetery.
Even in daylight, the property has a creepy feel.
But nighttime is when the show is really on. Last weekend about 200 people came to the Haunted Farm, and most of them were high school and college-aged, Cates said.
Cates' two daughters helped him to build the Haunted Farm, and they work as actors when it's open for business. Quincy, Cates' 12-year-old daughter, worked in the maze last weekend by simply sitting on hawkstacks in full makeup.
"It freaks people out if you just stare at them," Quincy said while taking a break from playing in the yard with her sister.
Quincy's young cousins and her little sister, 9-year-old Breck, haunt the graveyard.
"She says things like, 'Who dares enter my cemetery?' and then she raises my cousins from the dead — it's cute," Quincy said.
Cates' wife, who runs a salon out of their home, does most of the makeup for the actors. Quincy said she and her sister looked like characters in "The Children of the Corn."
Cates uses 10 to 15 actors, all family and friends, in the Haunted Farm. It's similar to the Kansas City haunted houses, Cates said. And he has lots of experience with that.
About 15 years ago Cates started working at the Beast and the Edge of Hell houses in downtown Kansas City. He played the old man in an upstairs room at the Beast.
"I've always enjoyed scaring people," Cates said.
That's because Cates' birthday is Oct. 30.
"It was the coolest thing to get presents one day and trick-or-treat the next." Cates said.
And Cates certainly doesn't scare easily. But he did utilize one of his few fears in the Haunted Farm: th
openness of the outdoors
"You can continuously run and there's nowhere to hide." Cates said. "In a building you could find somewhere to hide, but outside, what can you do?"
Cates plays on this fear by asking his actors to chase patrons. For inspiration, Cates asks people what their fears are and he builds props based on that. This year's theme is zombies and clowns.
Some proceeds from the Haunted Farm will go to the Lawrence Humane Society, Cates said it is an important cause to him and his family because most of their pets came from the shelter.
The rest of the proceeds will go to making the Haunted Farm better for next year when, Cates
THE HAUNTED FARM
WHEN: Oct. 29 and 30
WHAT TIME: 7:30 to 11 p.m.
COST: $10 for adults, $6 for 10 and under
WHERE: 1029 N. 1156 Rd.
said, he hopes to use a building on Massachusetts Street.
"The day after Halloween my mom thinks things will get back to normal, but Steve just starts working on next year," she said, calling her dad by his first name.
— Edited by Emily McCoy
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Kyle Flynn, a sophomore from Denver, walks down Massachusetts Street when he notices a panhandler following him. Flynn knows he has a few extra dollars in his pocket, and he feels bad that he has so much, and this man has so little. Flynn gives the man a dollar and goes into Jefferson's for dinner.
View our schedule online and enroll today!
BY ALLYSON SHAW ashaw@kansan.com
LAWRENCE
City looks for alternative to financing panhandlers
"I'd like to be optimistic about what he's going to do with that money," Flynn said. "But realistically I don't think it will be used for something good."
Downtown merchants, with help from the Lawrence City Commission, are asking patrons to stop giving spare change to panhandlers.
The Lawrence Community Shelter doesn't support panhandling either, said director Loring Henderson, but they still have a legal right to do it. If a person is a frequent panhandler or an aggressive panhandler then they may face consequences like not being allowed to stay at the shelter, Henderson said.
HOMELESSNESS IN LAWRENCE
Downtown Lawrence Inc. a non-profit organization for Lawrence's business district, started the program after hearing complaints from store patrons, said Jane Pennington, the organization's director.
www.bartonline.org
The initiative instead asks patrons to give panhandlers resource cards that list local social
In 2009, the Lawrence community shelter took in 311 new guests into case management programs:
- 71 percent male, 29 percent female
- 7 percent under 19 year of age, 73 percent between 20 and 50,
20 percent over 50 years of age
Online college courses offered by Barton Community College
- Lawrence Community Center annual report, 2009
Pennington said that the card, which would be about the size of a business card, would be available near the checkouts of downtown businesses. The cards would probably be available this spring, when the warm weather brings out more panhandlers.
- 26 percent disabled, 39 percent with mental illness, 55 percent with substance abuse
service agencies where they can receive food, shelter, healthcare, and drug and alcohol treatment.
"Sometimes it's uncomfortable to walk down Mass Street, and it seems like lately there are more and more of them," Flynn said. "But it will make me feel better knowing I can give me something that can help them."
There are 300 to 400 homeless people living in Lawrence, Henderson said. This program is a good idea, he said, because it encourages individuals to give their time and money to agencies, not to individuals.
Henderson said that overall Lawrence is not a harsh city for
the homeless.
the homeless." "People are well meaning," Henderson said. "The Lawrence community in general is very sympathetic to the homeless."
According to Pennington, there has been an issue with panhandling in Lawrence for a long time. It was only in the last couple of years that it has been addressed.
"The money that they receive generally doesn't go to anything productive," Pennington said of panhandlers.
Henderson said there are other things you can give to the panhandlers - whether through an agency or right on the street.
"You don't have to give money to panhandlers, but understand that homelessness is not a choice." Henderson said. "Most of the people who are homeless have many complex issues, so treat them like human beings. Smile at them and look them in the eye."
FRIDAY KU School of Music OCT.29 SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA HALLOWEEN BASH
KU Symphony Orchestra Halloween Concert and Costume Contest
6:30PM
Community-wide costume contest - Lied Center's Seymour Gallery Categories include: Youth, Collegiate and Adult. Baby Jay to help judge contest! Prizes awarded!
The KU Symphony Orchestra Halloween Concert - Lied Center Auditorium
Featuring a variety of poetic orchestral treats!
Tickets: $7/general admission • $5/students & seniors
Purchase tickets by calling or visiting the Lied Box Office, 785-864-2787
(also available the night of the concert).
7:30PM
The winners of the costume contest will be announced during the orchestra concert.
Visit MUSIC.KU.EDU for more information.
is event sponsored by: The Eldridge and Oread Hotels and the KU Bookstore
KU SCHOOL OF MUSIC
The University of Kansas
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