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Mount Jumbo Gym gets spooky sendoff as Halloween venue
Douglas Ghost Walk hosted at gym for final time as building set to be sold
By Ellie Ruel
Juneau Independent
Over 100 trick-or-treaters flooded Mount Jumbo Gym for the last time on Saturday night. This Halloween marked the final time the Douglas Ghost Walk will take place there, after years in the building.
“I came to this Ghost Walk in the early '60s, so it’s been going at least 60 years. I’m sure it’s been longer, but I know over 60 years,”said Maggie Swanson, one of the event organizers and head of the Douglas 4th of July Committee. “We didn’t use to trick-or-treat in Douglas at all. This is where you came.”
Swanson said the prizes in this year’s orange plastic goody bag handed out to children as they entered were reminiscent of the ones she received when she was younger. For her and other residents, the gym closure is bringing up memories.
“It’s really hard,” she said. “It’s emotional, we’ve been doing it here for so many years. On a personal level, too, I’ve had other residents of Douglas come down and take a look as well, because for them it’s the same thing. It’s hard to say goodbye.”
It’s not the end of the event itself, and according to Swanson, the committee will focus on finding a new location once the end-of-year festivities are over. Following Mt. Jumbo’s official closure due to a city budget deficit in early September, the Marie Drake Gym reopened for public programming.
This year’s event went out with a ringing bang, as participants chose from a variety of Halloween-updated carnival games, like knocking over skulls or a spooky version of ring toss.
Elodie Pierre, 8, waited for a ring toss game with her parents, sporting matching family astronaut costumes.
“We watched all of the Artemis 2 mission from the takeoff to the splashdown,” said Erin Shine, her mother. “And she became obsessed with astronauts in space.”
Shine said she wanted to bring Elodie before the event was over. It was their first Ghost Walk.
“I thought this was a great safe place for kids to come,” she said.
Kerri Woodsum said her kids have been going to the Ghost Walk for years. Her son Paxton Willoughby used to attend for fun, and now is a member of the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé hockey team that runs the carnival games. June Willoughby, her daughter, was in her third year attending — this time as a light-up jellyfish. She said her favorite game was the one run by her brother, which involved throwing balls at skulls on a shelf.
“It’s nostalgic,” said Woodsum. “I think that it’s something to do on a rainy day.”
Autumn Muse and her 5-year-old son Miles said they have memories at the gym, which is why they wanted to come to the last Ghost Walk there. It’s a seven-year tradition for their family, and while they’re sad about the location change they’re glad the event will continue.
“We wanted to come in the last year of it being at the Jumbo Gym,” Muse said. “We've got many good birthday parties here and it’s kind of a special place to us.”
• Contact Ellie Ruel at ellie.ruel@juneauindependent.com.
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