Yesterday afternoon our Ionic Masonic Lodge held the first annual Haunted House for the children and adults of Hamilton as well as the surrounding area. As is tradition the City of Hamilton, along with the cooperation of the downtown merchants, holds an annual Halloween day parade, an opportunity for the children to have some fun and hopefully fill a bag with some candy.
The Ionic Masonic Lodge, established in our community in 1889, situated on Third Street, between Main and States streets seemed to provide a perfect opportunity for our Masonic Brothers to have a little fun this Halloween. With donated Halloween skeletons, animated ghosts, costumes (including a giant beaver), a sneaky werewolf, a hanging man from the rafters, coffins, grave yard tombstones, an electrocuted half man on the fence and spooky music our Brothers allowed their inner child to take over the creation of the Haunted House.
To say that the Haunted House was a success would be a significant understatement, the Haunted House was a roaring, screaming and spectacular success as we had over 500 children and adults brave the Haunted House.
We are blessed to live in this beautiful Bitterroot Valley, to raise our children and nurture our grandchildren in a safe and wholesome environment, away from what we see on the news in other areas. Within the Haunted House one of our Brothers occupying the upper balcony had a great vantage position to view the activities of children as they moved through the maze. In addition there were Brothers on the front of the building monitoring the children and adults waiting in line to visit the Haunted House, so supervision by our Masonic Brothers was present almost everywhere. The consensus among all of us is that the children, from the youngest to the teenagers, conducted themselves in a way to brings credit to our community. Within our Ionic Lodge there was no vandalism, no juvenile antics, no acting up, just an orderly process of our young people enjoying the Halloween celebration.
We as Masonic Brothers are proud to be a part of our great community.
Rick Laible
Ionic Lodge Trestle Board Editor