The annual Ghoulish Gales took place at LHS recently as hundreds of students, parents, and their children came for Halloween treats, fun, and games. Traditionally, Ghoulish Gales is an alternative venue for families who want a safe and exciting environment for their kids to trick-or-treat. A large variety of Lancaster High School clubs and sports teams provided candy, games, and activities for everyone to enjoy.
LHS principal Scott Burre said that the Ghoulish Gales tradition started as a student-led event.
“The biggest benefits are, one, it’s a safe trick-or-treating for our elementary-aged kids. It’s a great way to connect our kids and our school with the younger kids in our community. This is a community event like our high school events.
LHS senior and one of the leaders of Ghoulish Gales, Bella Specht, said that although planning, organizing, and setting up for the event was challenging, all of the hard work was worth it in the end because it brought joy to children in the Lancaster community.
“It is stressful, but a lot of fun. It is a really good bonding activity as well, a lot of fun for the Latin club. And even people outside of it, everyone’s just working together to get as much done as possible so we can put on an event for these kids and just kind of show the community that we care,” she said.
Specht summarized the purpose of Ghoulish Gales.
“To bring awareness to all of our groups and clubs. It’s not really a fundraiser, because we don’t earn any money from it. It’s just giving back to the community in any way we can. I just really love Ghoulish Gales. As a person, I’ve also really always loved Halloween. I love being able to bring that magic back to kids, because I used to attend Ghoulish Gales and I remember how much fun it was. So I really wanted to be able to help put on this event and make it magical for other kids,” said Specht.
LHS junior Morgan Boch attended Ghoulish Gales and she enjoyed seeing so many people from the community participate.
“It is definitely very stressful but I enjoy doing it. I like being able to help as a student and just to see all the kids having fun and the costumes. I am here as a part of the Latin Club and I choose to volunteer because I like helping out and when I can take some stress off of people it makes me feel good. The best part for me is seeing all the people that come. I get to see my friends and all the kids having fun,” said Boch.
Lancaster resident Brandy Swisher said she liked the convenience, entertainment, and environment of the yearly event.
“I brought my kids because I wanted a safe environment for them to have fun and it’s just an easy thing to do because I don’t have to entertain them. The kids at the stands took care of that. All the stands were cute and fun for the kids. My experience tonight was good. There were plenty of things to do and see and it kept my kids entertained the whole time,” said Swisher.
Swisher’s daughters Leela and Kinsley, who attended Ghoulish Gales, said that there were some activities that they really enjoyed. Leela, dressed in a tiger costume, said that her favorite activity was the cross-country mummy race because she got lots of candy. Kinsley, a teenager, walked her neighbor’s little girl around to all of the activities.
“I brought her here tonight and she loves the activities and all the costumes. My favorite activity here would probably be the soccer team’s stand.”
The soccer team’s stand included soccer balls and goals, and if the kids made a goal, they got to choose a piece of candy from the table.
LHS English teacher Dianna Galadyk brought her own two children to the Ghoulish Gales celebration and said that they had a great time together with the students who worked at the event.
“My children also know many of the students from school because they are with me at many events, practices, and meets. It gives them a good opportunity to interact with them. I love this event and I am so proud of our school for putting this on for our community. We had a blast. My children love coming to this every year and my athletes love being a part of it. I hope this tradition continues.”
