Popular area haunted house closes its doors

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

People wanting to have a scare this Halloween season will not be getting their fright fix from the annual Nightmare On Walnut Street haunted house in Friendship.

The popular Halloween haunt was recently shut down by the Tennessee State Fire Marshal due to code violations. The Friendship Citizens Committee that ran the haunted house was told to install a full sprinkler system with alarms or be shut down.

The committee decided there was not enough time or funds available to install the system before the opening date so they were forced to close their doors.

According to the committee's Web site, they said they had plenty of precautions in place in case of an emergency including fire extinguishers at several locations, a fire truck, firefighters, law enforcement personnel, EMTs, and first responders on the property during operating hours. The site also states they had safety rules in place and all of the volunteers were trained how to respond in case of an evacuation.

The Friendship Citizens Committee held their first Nightmare on Walnut Street in 2006 to raise funds for a park and community center where the old Friendship Elementary School stands. The committee was matching state funds for the project and raised $20,000 in their efforts last year. That total edged them closer to their ultimate goal of $53,000, which they had planned to reach this year.

Committee member Daphne Garret said on behalf of the committee they would like to thank the community and everyone involved in making the haunted house as successful as it was.

The committee will continue selling T-shirts to raise funds for the park. For more information go to www.nightmareonwalnutstreet.org or contact Christy Hutchison at 731-677-8181.

Comments

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Hahahaha... they aren't raising money for a park. They are padding their pockets. They have the crockett county sheriff dept inmates working on it. So it is no cost pretty much. Friendship has gone to the dumps.

-- Posted by drawzfatha on Tue, Oct 27, 2009, at 3:25 PM

Those people who have given their time to improve the city and raise money for that park are to be commended, but people like you, who just want to whine and complain, should roll up your sleeves and help or shut up and get out of the way.....

-- Posted by Jack2487 on Thu, Oct 29, 2009, at 10:53 PM

My Brother was one of the Trustee's that was able to help on the haunted house in friendship, and he told me that it was the best experience he has had in years. Bless those men and women who treat the Trustee's like humans, and try to help them return to productive society. The money raised will go to a worthy cause and I will help those people any way I can. God Bless them!!!!!

-- Posted by Favabeans on Fri, Oct 30, 2009, at 1:26 AM

The dedication of the Friendship Citizens Committee is to be commended. What evidence does 'drawzfatha' have that anyone's pockets are being padded? Do any of the people who volunteered their time and talents to the project appear to be overflowing with funds? I have lived in Friendship most of my life and have witnessed the suppression of most every positive action taken to improve our town. This was a joint effort of all races, religions and economic backgrounds coming together to raise funds to enhance Friendship. If 'drawzfatha' is not supportive of such an effort he is certainly free to say so. But he shouldn't make such a blatant and libelous accusation.

-- Posted by unamazed on Fri, Oct 30, 2009, at 10:42 PM

I have lived here since 1989, and there is NOTHING that the kids around here can do. The ball fields have become a storage area for dumpsters, they have a perfectly good gym that they could use as an activity center like dyersburg, they aren't utilizing what they have to create income.

-- Posted by drawzfatha on Sat, Oct 31, 2009, at 2:06 PM

DUH! The gym IS used as an activity center. It is rented out for events and is used for basketball camp in the summer, Halloween carnival, fish fries, spaghetti suppers, gospel concerts, Easter Egg hunt, etc. Granted--some of these activities are not income-producing, but they do provide activity for the community. The REASON the FCC is working so hard to raise money to build a park is to afford children in the area a safe place to PLAY and people to gather in a safe environment. With a park, and the equipment that would be installed, children would have a place to play and something to DO!

-- Posted by unamazed on Sat, Oct 31, 2009, at 10:06 PM

Hey unamazed read all the post before you post I said activity center like the one in DYERSBURG!!! you know how you pay like 5 dollars to play basketball. When it is rented out it is just for the ppl that are hosting the event and the ppl that were invited!!!!

-- Posted by drawzfatha on Sun, Nov 1, 2009, at 9:37 PM