Thunder, lightning offer scary backdrop for 'Eakfest'

It was a dark and stormy night. But despite the torrential rain and wind, more than 200 people showed up at the annual Halloween "Eakfest" at the V.F.W. pavilion on Adamston Road for a night of fear and fun last Friday.

PHOTOS BY CHRIS KELLY staff Left: Alicia Eak, Brick, puts a power tool to good use last Friday to decorate for the family's annual Halloween "Eakfest." The proceeds from the event will go to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Right: Christopher Eak, Brick, sets up one of the coffins. And when it was over, Chris and Alicia Eak (pronounced eek!) and their helpers had raised more than $2,200 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Eakfest was born in 1996. It began simply enough, with a riding mower, a bale of hay, bobbing for apples and doughnuts in the Eaks' backyard. The fathers thought it would be fun to give the kids hayrides in the utility trailer. Some of the parents really got in the mood and began jumping out from behind trees.

Eakfest morphed over the years into a local Halloween extravaganza. It wasn't out of the ordinary to have more than 100 people waiting in line for the hayride There were costume and dessert contests.

The Eaks took a break in 2006 and let Alicia's cousin host the event. That same October, their daughter Jackie, now 14, was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis.

Alicia decided that from then on, "Eakfest" would be held as a Halloween fund raiser for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

"I never wanted to stop," she said. "I just started rolling with it and pretty much just forced everyone to do it."

People were standing in line last Friday night for a ride through the Haunted Trail, she said.

"It was pouring and windy," Eak said.

The soaked trail featured a number of attractions, including a knight in shining armor. A Girl Scout troop set up a Halloween table of "gruesome" foods, complete with a Scout's head on a plate.

"We were pretty soaked," she said. "We still did pretty well."

The Eaks said they couldn't have pulled the event off without all their volunteers.

The couple placed an ad in an area paper with the headline "Monsters wanted."

"I was blown away," she said. "We probably had close to 30 people. It was just absolutely amazing. I got so many e-mails from people. Now they are going to be my new best friends."

The Entenmann's Thrift Shop donated baked goods for the event. A local vendor sold hot dogs and Philly cheese steaks. The coffee was free.

"After a while, everyone was so wet, it didn't matter," she said. "We so much appreciate our good friends, old and new."

The Eaks toted up the proceeds on Sunday afternoon.

"For a rainy night, it wasn't bad," she said.

And they plan to start preparations for "Eakfest 2009" a little sooner than June.

"Next year we are starting earlier, I'll tell you that," Alicia Eak said.