Cliffs of the Neuse State Park offers spooky activities for October
By Becky Barclay
Published in News on October 3, 2014 1:46 PM
Bill likes attention -- even though he's dead. Visitors on this month's ghost hikes at Cliffs of the Neuse State Park just might catch a glimpse of the restless spirit and some of the others who call the park home.
The two ghost hikes are just part of the Halloween fun that rangers at the Cliffs have planned for October.
Bill was one of the structural engineers who died while the new visitor center was being built. They weren't able to send him home to Ecuador to bury him with his family, so they cremated him and placed his ashes beside the new building.
While the building was being finished, several workers would see the man's ghost just hanging around, sometimes during the day, sometimes at night. When the visitor center was dedicated in the summer of 2011, Native Americans held a special smudge ceremony to drive the spirit out.
It didn't work.
"Bill is still here," said park ranger Crystal Lloyd. "We still hear him frequently. People will have to come out to the ghost hikes and see what kinds of things Bill likes to stir up. People can bring their cameras to the ghost hikes and maybe they'll be lucky enough to catch Bill in a photo."
The ghost hikes will be held Saturday and Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. Each will have different stories and different paths.
"We have a few park-related ghost stories to tell; some are true and some have a little extra thrown in," Ms. Lloyd said. "There will be lots of stories about our resident ghosts. We're quite full up. We have a lot of ghosts who hang out with us at nighttime here that normal visitors may miss."
Oct. 12 at 3 p.m., there will be a natural Halloween program, with both inside and outside activities.
"The focus of the program will be to look at seasonal things associated with Halloween," said park ranger Autumn Kahl. "When you think Halloween, you're going to think pumpkins, bats, spiders, snakes -- all sorts of creepy little things, even moss hanging down from the trees, all that good stuff."
There will also be games and crafts to take home.
It all leads up to the big Halloween event Oct. 31. Trunk-or-treating will go from 6:30 to 7 p.m. in the lake parking lot. Children can go from car to car collecting treats.
The rangers will be handing out candy, but are looking for others to also participate. Anyone wanting to hand out candy from their car should let the Cliffs know by Oct. 27.
"Last year we had almost 800 people show up for trunk-or-treat and 15 cars giving out candy. We had a lot of people running out of candy, and other cars were passing candy to each other so everybody had enough."
Set up will begin at 5 p.m. Following trunk-or-treat, there will be a Halloween movie down by the lake. The concession stand will be open during the movie, selling hot dogs and drinks. For more information about any of the Cliffs' Halloween events, call the park at 919-778-6234.