Night on a Dark Trail is not for everyone. In fact, you might say the event, a walk down the Snoqualmie Valley Trail through a series of short, spooky scenes, has a limited audience. It’s for only those people who enjoy a bit of haunted community theater in support of a good cause.
“Our mission has always been to give back to the local community,” said Kathleen Morris, vice-president of the organization, which will present its sixth annual haunted trail this year, Oct. 14, 15, 20, 21 and 22, across the street from Snoqualmie Valley Hospital on Snoqualmie Ridge.
In past years, giving back has meant donations to the Snoqualmie Valley Food Bank —almost $8,000 last year and close to $25,000 in the past five years that the event has been produced.
This year is different, mainly because Night on a Dark Trail has been officially designated a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
“It’s really been a long term dream of ours,” to become a non-profit,” said Morris. “We’ve had more and more community supporting us year after year, and yet one of the frustrations for us is that for many of those, in order to be eligible for grants, you have to be a 501(c)3.”
With the new designation, the organization can receive tax-deductible donations and qualify for more grants. Its board also hopes to make some grants this year.
“Since we’ve always relied on the middle schools and high schools for actors,” Morris said, “this year, we’re going to provide grants to the Snoqualmie Valley School District drama program.”
“Most drama departments in public schools have a very limited budget,” added Hennig, the board president, director of the show, and a former drama teacher.
Depending on how much money the haunted trail makes over its two-weekend run, Morris and Hennig said they plan to award grants to the drama programs at both Chief Kanim and Twin Falls Middle Schools, “probably” the Snoqualmie Valley Food Bank, and “possibly” the Mount Si High School drama department.
However, with their new designation, the group has acquired new expenses, including liability and other types of insurance costs. After expenses, Hennig said, he also wants to reserve about $4,000 for storage, equipment and general needs for future shows.
“We want to move beyond the joke about straightening nails so we can use them again next year,” he said. “We want to be able to upgrade our sound equipment, we want to upgrade our lighting, and any number of things like that, just to keep working toward a more professional production.”
With an all-volunteer cast and crew of about 120 people and the unpredictable fall weather to work around, it’s a tall order. Still, Hennig is confident he can achieve it, since he has for the past five falls, with the help of many volunteers and donations of money, supplies, and even meals for the cast.
“We are going with a theme this year,” he said, in an effort to create a connected story line between scenes on the trail. “We try to time it so the scenes are under two minutes long, to keep everybody moving along, and we do put an emphasis on trying to have a story line, and acting, and actual performances.”
“It takes about 20 to 30 minutes to walk through it,” added Morris.
How scary are the performances going to be? That depends, says Morris. “Every kid is different. It really is at the discretion of the parents.”
Auditions are underway for the show now. Every role will be double-cast, to ensure that enough players are available for both weekends of the production, and more volunteers are needed for behind the scenes work.
Night on a Dark Trail takes place on the Snoqualmie Valley Trail, across from Snoqualmie Valley Hospital, at 34500 S.E. 99th St. Snoqualmie. Performances run from 7 to 10 p.m. Oct. 14, 15, 20, 21 and 22. To learn more, visit http://nightonadarktrail.org, or find Night on a Dark Trail on Facebook.
Donations can be made at Umpqua Bank in North Bend.
