Rockville Centre spooks the town with annual event

CSTL hosted Spooky Fest at the Tanglewood Preserve in Rockville Centre. // Annabel Hoffman/ The Hofstra Chronicle.

From fear to fun, one local Halloween event changes its target audience to appeal to younger children. The Center for Science Teaching and Learning (CSTL) hosts Spooky Fest, a family-friendly Halloween event, at the Tanglewood Preserve in Rockville Centre, New York, every weekend in October.

Spooky Fest includes several different Halloween-themed activities, mostly for children ages 12 and under. There is a “Not-So-Spooky Walk,” face-painting, arts and crafts, fortune telling, a DJ and more.

In previous years, the event was much more frightening and was intended for an older audience, according to Ray Ann Havasy, director of CSTL. Before, the fest included a maze for guests to navigate while people jumped out to scare visitors.

“This year we decided to really change it to fit more of our demographic who comes to visit us,” Havasy said. “We have a beautiful, enchanted walk in the woods for the really little ones.”

The not-so-spooky walk was a favorite of every attendee interviewed, who ranged in age from 3 to 12 years old.

Spooky Fest creates a warm atmosphere as volunteers work together to help CSTL and bring joy to kids. // Annabel Hoffman/The Hofstra Chronicle.

Denise, who did not want to provide her last name, asked her five-year-old son what he was most looking forward to.

“The spooky walk!” he said.

CSTL is a non-profit organization with the goal of fostering an interest in science through many different types of programs. Some of these events include night hikes, science workshops, various camps and science-themed birthday parties. The center also has a science museum with a dinosaur exhibit and live animals.

Spooky Fest is used as a fundraiser to keep the organization running over the winter, according to Havasy.

“In the winter our visitorship goes down because of the bad weather, so this supports our animal care and our other programs,” Havasy said.

The first Spooky Fest, held in 2009, was a short walk through the woods, according to Michelle Anselmo, a preschool teacher at CSTL, who has been an employee since the first annual Halloween event.

Thirteen years later, Spooky Fest is an event that brings in roughly 10,000 to 15,000 people. The event requires two-and-a-half to three months of set-up and uses “millions of twinkly lights,” according to Havasy.

Because the staff for CSTL is so small, volunteers are a big part of making Spooky Fest happen.

“We survive [through volunteers],” Havasy said. “We depend on about 60 [people] a night to help us accomplish Spooky Fest.”

A local university has made volunteering for the fall festivities a tradition.

Delaney Kiendra, a sophomore on the volleyball team at Adelphi University, says her team has been volunteering with Spooky Fest for a few years.

Even though the volunteer work is “team mandated,” Kiendra enjoyed helping out for this year’s Spooky Fest.

“This is so fun. I love children,” she said.

Anselmo shares the sentiment that seeing the children is the best part about Spooky Fest. Dressed as The Cat in the Hat, she greets all the delighted and eager kids as they enter the event.

“I enjoy seeing all the people and all the smiles on the children’s faces. And they’re so excited,” she said.

Spooky Fest will be open until Sunday, Oct. 30. Tickets are $25 for the all-inclusive event and $20 for the non-scary activities.

Attendees can purchase tickets between 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the booth or on the CSTL website.