San Jose Mercury News - A fun kind of fright at San Jose haunted house
10/28/2007 11:01 AM
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A fun kind of fright at San Jose haunted house
VOLUNTEERS BRING A FUN KIND OF FEAR TO SAN JOSE NEIGHBORHOOD
By Lisa M. Krieger Mercury News Article Launched: 10/28/2007 01:43:25 AM PDT
There's an awful fear you can feel along South First Street in San Jose if it's late and if you're wearing red, or blue, with black nylon Nike Cortez sneakers. Then there's the fun fear you can find at the annual Washington Community Haunted House & Festival. With ghosts, ghouls, goblins and games, it's got the rush - without the risk. "It's thrilling, not life-threatening - a totally different kind of scary," said Matthew Peng, 20, a pre-law student at San Jose State University whose Phi Alpha Delta fraternity built one of the many booths in the gymnasium of the Washington United Youth Center. "It's done with love," he said of Saturday's one-night event, while suspending an electronic black bat by its wings. "Kids want to be amazed." The event, hosted by Guadalupe-Washington neighborhood volunteers for the past 15 years, attracts almost 1,000 families to the Washington United Youth Center, built in 1999 on the site of a former grocery parking lot frequented by drunks, derelicts and drug addicts.
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Conceived in 1993 after a fatal drive-by shooting of a parent in front of Washington Elementary School, the event is funded by San Jose Rotary Club and city and federal grants. This year, $3,000 - and hundreds of volunteer hours - were committed to the event. Youth Center mission It is one of many special events hosted by the Youth Center, whose mission is to engage kids in after-school homework and other activities when parents are working. Advertisement "There's a need for family nights like this," said organizer Mark Lopez, 31, who was born in the neighborhood and is now working at the Children's Discovery Museum while earning a degree at San Jose State University. "Kids come here to visit, then come back to help," he said. "There are not many role models in this community. Kids look up to us, and want to help. It's a tradition." Recalling his years growing up, Lopez said, "When I was a kid, there was nothing. On Halloween, there was just trick-or-treating - usually over in Willow Glen, where the candy was better. There was nothing like this." Teresa Garate, 19, agreed. The event is so special, she said, that she asked for the night off from her hostess job at Chevy's so she could run the ticket booth.
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San Jose Mercury News - A fun kind of fright at San Jose haunted house
10/28/2007 11:01 AM
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'There is still crime' Despite two recent shootings in the neighborhood, "there are improvements, especially with the Youth Center," said Garate, who grew up nearby and is headed to National Hispanic University next fall. "There is still crime, but if you mind your own business, they don't bug you. There are a lot of families here." Marycruz Castro, 15, helped with the games. "This is a really fun night," she said. "We try not to scare the little kids. But we don't want it to be boring." Nearby, Boy Scout Troop 218 leader Mark Corniuk had erected a pup tent featuring the shadow of a man with a knife. Other booths had skeletons in pirate hats, gargoyles, witches and caskets. One volunteer, limping from a bullet in his leg from a neighborhood shooting last week, worked all day Friday erecting booths, but took Saturday off.
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The youth center, Biblioteca Latinoamericana, elementary school and rows of single-story stucco homes are a point of pride for residents, and the recent rise in violence has created new concerns. Neighbors, police officers and city agencies are working to neutralize gang-related violence, said Eric Hernandez, 18, another volunteer. But at the Haunted House and Festival, all the frights were fake. "There have never been fights or shootings here," said Lopez. "The gangs know all the work that goes into this.
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"It's a family night," he said, "and they respect it." Contact Lisa M. Krieger at lkrieger@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5565.
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