The Great Pumpkin may not appear in Woodbury, but have no fear, The Haunted Oaks is chock full of Halloween treats not tricks.
The Woodbury neighborhood of Royal Oaks transforms into The Haunted Oaks filled with fun, spooky, larger-than-life displays as well as a haunted trail connecting north and south branches of Lamplight Drive. This year, a “Haunted Oaks Creepy Cruise & Scavenger Hunt” has been added on Monday night.
The creepy, family friendly cruise will begin at 7:30 p.m. at Ojibway Park. Organizers will hand out maps and scavenger hunt questionnaires to complete during the cruise through the neighborhood. A hearse will lead the funeral procession style caravan, ending up at 3rd Act Craft Brewery where prizes sponsored by the brewery will be awarded to those with the best decorated cars. Costumes are encouraged.
Royal Oaks resident Derek Schmidt has been diligently working on his Halloween display since April. Schmidt and his wife moved into the neighborhood in 2019 and started off with typical Halloween decorations, but 2020 Covid shutdowns allowed time to build more elaborate displays.
Today, his yard boasts a crew of 3D printed aliens, a 12-foot skeleton with his faithful pup Skully, and a truly ginormous skeleton breaking out of the garage roof, among many other eerie delights. People may even have spotted a vintage hearse parked in Schmidt’s front yard over the weekend.
Other fun-loving neighbors followed suit and Haunted Oaks was born.
Katie and Drew Rust have lived in their Lamplight Drive home for 21 years and currently have their home decorated in the theme “Dead End Truck Stop.” They have nothing but positive things to say about the fall festivities.
“This has turned us from just living on a block, not really knowing our neighbors, to a community with friendships and connections.” Rust said. “ We were close to moving out of our home, and have changed our minds, because we don’t want to leave this community.”
Schmidt reached out to local car club, Woodbury Wheels, an organization that has been around for four years and has done “holiday light cruises” in the past, and connected with Eric Galler to lead a Halloween cruise next Mon., Oct. 28.
“I was like, wouldn’t it be fun to do that same thing, but for Halloween? And they were all for it.” Schmidt commented. “I asked if they would be willing to work together because they know how car cruises work, and they handle that piece of it.”
Royal Oaks resident Justin Ropella said The Haunted Oaks “not only gave us opportunities to meet and make connections with other people in the neighborhood, but also all of the other neighborhoods in Woodbury.”
Ropella sums it up by saying, “It’s so much fun to see the community pour in and the Halloween spirit. We feel so lucky to have landed in a neighborhood like Royal Oaks where the neighborhood joins together to do something like this.”
