BELLE FOURCHE—Who says Halloween fun has to wait until October 31? Certainly not the Tri-State Museum and Visitor Center, where the spooky season got an early start Saturday, October 24. A full day of pumpkins, costumes, games, crafts, laughing kids and shopping families made for a fun time at the 10th annual Pumpkinfest.
The event is a combined effort between the Chamber of Commerce and the Tri-State Museum and Visitor Center, and they think of everything! From vendors and food trucks to games and activities and everything in between, Pumpkinfest is a day filled with exciting entertainment.
The festivities took place inside the museum, around the outside of it, in the parking lot, on the grass and inside the Johnny Spaulding cabin.
Walking up to the museum, visitors were met with a parking lot lined with food trucks and vendors offering various goodies for sale. The Pumpkin Train made laps around the museum grounds, stopping from time to time to reload passengers.
The Spaulding cabin was turned into Skeletown Haunted Cabin and was decorated with spooky skeletons and included an activity that had visitors hunting through the upstairs and main floor of the cabin to find and count all of the skeletons, then return their tally sheet for a chance at a prize.
Inside of the museum, Otis the Cowboy Wizard greeted visitors entering the museum and a colorfully decorated bathtub held goodie bags for each child to take a treat with them. There were activities and games galore for kids to enjoy.
The Belle Fourche Public Library hosted a pumpkin craft where kids ended up with a Halloween tic-tac-toe game to take home with them when they were finished. The museum staff and volunteers ran games of bowling, pumpkin tic-tac-toe and dart throwing—winners got prizes.
Maleficent (Jada Udager) performed magic tricks for the crowd and hosted a game called Maleficent’s Magical Feathery Ooey Gooey Box, where brave children stuck their hands into a bowl full of scary treats and then had to guess what they were. Those guessing all of them correctly won a prize. The items represented zombie brains, worms, tarantulas, maggots and eyeballs.
Making Bouncy Balls with Borax was led by Sheila Culhane. She walked the kids through all of the steps, starting with water, followed by mixing and stirring until they ended up with a round, smooth ball.
Around 12:45 p.m., the costume contest began. There were around 30 participants dressed in costumes, giving the judges a very hard task to decide the prize winners for the Most Original Costume, Scariest Costume and Silliest Costume.
A popular attraction throughout the day was the Halloween play, Misunderstood Monsters, presented by the Tri-State Performers. There were two chances during the day to catch the play. The noon show packed over 90 spectators into the museum gallery—extra chairs had to be set up. The 3 p.m. showing brought another 41 people into the audience.
The play was written by Kristi Thielen, museum director. The cast of 14 kids came from a variety of backgrounds. “Many of them have not been on stage here before—some of them have never been on stage at all before. They’ve spent three weeks putting this together,” shared Thielen.
Thielen served as playwright and director. Other museum staff helped with the production as well. Jean Maher served as house manager, Kim Reausaw was the sound engineer, Jada Udager handled props and tech and Three Hats Theatre provided the costumes.
The cast included Scarlett Bercier, Shelly; Max Dixon, Boris; Amber Dixon, Inga; Natalie Venter, Bella; Adlei Gerbracht, Wolfgang; Katherine Fowler, Millicent, leader; Clara Reid, Eydie; Annabelle Coffelt, Nanette; Abigail Watson, Revenka, leader; Hattie Featherston, Olga; Greta Abraham, Dorota, dance leader; Loxley Rempfer, Brigita; Aliza Wipf, Petara and Selah Wipf, Tomasina.
Mark your calendar for the Tri-State Museum’s annual Ginger Festival Saturday, December 5, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. This event will get you in the Christmas spirit with holiday music, crafts, activities, games and, of course, a visit from Santa! There will be treats and goodie bags. The highlight of the festival will be the Ginger Village exhibit. There will be a Gingerbread House competition with prizes for the winners. Reach out to the museum at 605-723-1200 for additional details.
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