Around Town: Halloween festivities have arrived

By Ernie Wren, Boone County Journal

Fans of Harry Potter, Dungeons & Dragons, and other fantastic tales, guess what?! The Southern Boone County Public Library will be hosting a “Potion Bottle Workshop” on Thursday, Oct. 9, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., and it’s FREE! Just in time for the Halloween season, you can have a spooktacular amount of fun crafting potion bottles for display at home or in the office. All materials are provided, but you will need to register online at www.dbrl.org/register-ashland.

My wife Danna and I enjoyed the magical worlds of Harry Potter at Epic Universe in Florida this past spring, and this looks like something that could have been there in the Ministry of Magic! So, mark your calendars to prepare your Halloween bottle!

I would like to offer a quick shout-out to Southern Boone High School Choir members Allison Stowe and Brooke Bryant on being selected for the All-District Choir. They will have the opportunity to perform and audition for the All-State Choir on Oct. 29. Congratulations on representing Southern Boone so well, and good luck in October! Congratulations are also in order to the Southern Boone Marching Band for their impressive performance at the Wright City Wildcat Pride Invitational. They won the Class 3 “Best Music Performance” and “Best Visual Performance,” along with second place in Class 3 overall, and second place in “Indoor Drumline.” Way to go!

I might have to get out and go for a nice drive at the Hartsburg Lions Club Poker Run, Saturday, Nov. 1, at Hartsburg Legion Park. Getting to drive around, enjoy tasty food and listen to live music sounds like a lot of fun. More details will be coming soon.

REMINDERS: On Saturday, Oct. 25, the 8th Annual Monster Dash 5K Run/Walk will be hosted by the Southern Boone Area YMCA. There will be pumpkin decorating, a Halloween costume contest (I plan to win it this year!), complimentary refreshments and an awards ceremony. This year’s event will start at 8 a.m. (race starts at 9 a.m.), at the YMCA.

The Ashland Optimist Club is hosting its annual “Spooktacular” again this year on Friday, Oct. 31, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Ashland Optimist Club, 511 Optimist Drive. This event is FREE for the public and participating businesses and organizations. To reserve a space and/or sponsor a prize, contact me at erniewren@gmail.com or text me at 573-239-1105.

My wife and I enjoy trivia contests, games and all the fun that goes with socializing at such events. Did you know there is a trivia night at Woody’s Pub & Grub every Monday evening starting at 6:30 p.m.? There is no cost to play, and individuals or teams can join right in. The contests conclude each night (no ongoing league points or anything), with fun prizes to the winning team, such as a free appetizer or a free pizza. It’s a lot of fun, family-friendly and Duane Shumate does a wonderful job as the Trivia DJ Extraordinaire!

October Halloween Trivia: Did you know that Illinois produces the most pumpkins per year, at over 600 million pounds? That’s a lot of pumpkin pie! Rounding out the “Top Six” are: Indiana, California, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Virginia. (ers.usda.gov) Now you know!