Ferrum Forward and Friends of Ferrum Park will be hosting a “Not-So-Scary” trick-or-treat trail at 5 p.m. on Oct. 21.

Immediately following, Friends of Ferum Park (FOFP) will host a Haunted Trail beginning at 6:30 p.m.

The trick-or-treat trail is free, but the Haunted Trail costs. Fees for the Haunted Trail will be used to help the FOFP non-profit provide the Village of Ferrum with a public recreation space.

“A big part of Ferrum Forward’s mission is to give back to the community in as many ways as possible and do things that help bring the community together,” Rebecca Saunders, Executive Director of Friends of Ferrum Park, said.

The “Not-So-Scary” trick-or-treat trail will last until 6 p.m. Local volunteers will line the trail and disperse candy and treats to the trick-or-treaters.

Shortly afterward, the Haunted Trail will begin at 6:30 p.m. Both events are being held on the West Franklin Drive land, whose future is soon to be determined by the county’s Board of Supervisors. FOFP has submitted a proposal to the Board to make the land a nature park and event space with limited attainable housing.

The proposal can be viewed here. Proceeds from the event will go toward the Ferrum Park effort.

This event will cycle every 30 minutes, with the last run starting at 8:30 p.m. Admission for the Haunted Trail is $10 for anyone older than 18 and $5 for those younger than 18. College students can enter for $5 as well. All tickets must be pre-purchased beforehand on the online website: www.yourferrumpark.com.

“When the county approved Friends of Ferrum Park’s application to use the property for the Haunted Trail, we all agreed it was a great opportunity to do something unique and fun for families with younger kids, too,” Saunders said.

Halloween can bring a plethora of activities for children and adults, as well. The FOFP committee plans on taking full advantage of this holiday by adding more options to accommodate the low availability of “trick-or-trick” that the town provides due to its geographic location.

“Ferrum has some great trunk-or-treat options for Halloween, but we thought it might be neat to give an alternative option for the community that more closely resembles the ‘house-to-house’ trick-or-treating that’s harder to come by when you live in a rural area like ours,” Saunders said.

The Haunted Trail is an opportunity to bring the community together and will also lay the groundwork for community events in the future.

“We hope to show that there is a need and desire in the Ferrum community to have more events like these. I can’t stress enough how hard it is to have these events without access to a location to host them,” Saunders said. “So yes, we are hoping to show that the land can be well-used for these purposes, but also that the community greatly benefits and enjoys having more events like these available to them locally.”

For Alfredo Abel Rivera, a sophomore at the college, the event is an opportunity to do something off campus.

“I’m glad that Ferrum is doing something like this close by. This means we don’t have to go all the way to Roanoke for a fun haunted trail,” Rivera said.

Sterling Charles, sophomore, also praised the idea.

“I think this could be a fun team activity, and it beats driving 40 minutes when you could have the same experience in our local town,” Charles said.