Annual blast for all

Suzie Harrison

Children were screaming in fright and so were their parents, the

atmosphere was creepy. They brought the terror on themselves but they

can’t be blamed, they were experiencing the haunted house at Boo

Blast -- El Morro Elementary School’s yearly fund-raising tradition

that has been a community event for more than 20 years.

The spooks are coming to life today from 2:30 to 7:30 p.m. and the

PTA, who puts the event on every year, promises to follow the

tradition of fun for all.

Typically the children aren’t the only one’s to wear costumes, in

fact, everyone is encouraged to put their scariest face forward.

“I am going to be an Arabian princess,” Katharine Barton, 9, said.

“I like that the Boo Blast always has different things each year like

prizes and games.”

Earlier this week the committee was meeting at the school making

sure all their ducks were in a row. On Wednesday they could be seen

on various parts of the campus putting up goblins, spiders and

creating the frightening and festive atmosphere.

Melanie Lewis, PTA president, is in charge of Boo Blast this year

and said that it should be a lot of fun.

“The haunted house theme is Pirates of the Caribbean,” Lewis said.

Prestin Obradovich, 10, said the haunted house is his favorite.

“There will be games, prizes, a place where kids can have makeup,

crazy hair and face painting done.”

She said that there’s plenty of cotton candy, which is really

popular, and typical carnival treats.

“There will be a bake sale and a cake walk with a DJ,” Lewis said.

The committee elaborated and said there will be a pie-throwing

contest with principal Joanne Culverhouse being the target; there

will be four inflatable attractions, one of which is a giant slide.

“We’ll have two obstacle courses -- one for kids 6 years old and

under,” Lewis said. “We’ll have 10 to 15 game booths, including twin

hoops and the goldfish booth.”

They said that the beauty of Boo Blast is that everyone wins.

“There will be a kiddie area called Captain Hooks for children 6

years old and younger,” Lewis said.

It’s an event that the whole community attends, not just El Morro

students and their families. To be more specific, the committee said

that it usually sells about 600 to 700 adult meals and 100 pizzas on

top of that and that’s not including what the kids munch.

Viviana Ashauer is on the committee and she also attended El Morro

20 years ago.

“I remember all the bake stuff, the food and the games,” Ashauer

said. “I have a second-grade student here. I have gone to the Boo

Blast every year that I’ve lived here.”

Culverhouse lauds the PTA for making it happen every year.

“I love seeing the community come together for the fun time,”

Culverhouse said. “It’s more than just a fund-raiser, it’s a

community event.”

More importantly, however, the opinion of fun experts was needed,

seasoned student Boo Blast goers.

“I think it’s going to be fun, I like the games, activities and

the food,” Savannah Horan, 9, said. “I like the rides, the ones you

go in and spin around.”

Savannah said that she thinks she is going to dress up as a 50s

girl from a restaurant and said last year she was Sponge Bob

Squarepants.

Bryce Blanton, 9, has a more philanthropic view.

“I like raising money for the school,” Blanton said. “It’s a great

carnival for the kids who really enjoy Halloween. The people who help

work the Boo Blast really do a good job. It should go on for many

years, it should never stop.”

He said he also likes all the games, especially the soccer game.

“It’s fun and you can dress up as anything -- I’ve been going for

at least three years now,” Miguel Jaimes, 10, said.

Most of the students chose the haunted house as their favorite

thing about Boo Blast with the games following closely behind as the

second favorite thing about Boo Blast.

Boo Blast will also have different items for sale that are popular

with the kids, including student-designed T-shirts and raffle tickets

for things such as skimboards.

Parking is always an issue, so to simplify things there is no

parking at the school. Parking is available at Reef Point and, after

that fills, at Trabuco Canyon. Free trolleys will be available for

transportation until 8 p.m. and will come often. Tickets for Boo

Blast can be purchased at the event.