The 11th Annual Halloween Haunted Hayride will be held at Jacob Myers Park in Riverbank on Friday, Oct. 25 from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and on Saturday, Oct. 26 from 7 p.m. until 10 p.m. This is an event for all ages and is free for children under three years old. The fee for adults is $7 and for children between the ages of 4 to 12, the fee is $5.

Bring the family and visit the haunted woods of Jacob Myers Park where you may hear scary sounds, see creepy things and things just might jump out at you. Last year they hayride entertained over 1000 people and the city staff believes that this year will be scarier than last year.

For the past several years the late Scott Pettit assisted in organizing this event and looked forward to it all year long. According to city staff, Pettit was an outstanding volunteer that helped with the loading area, the music, and the students from his Karate for Kids school manned the concession stand. Pettit also had a variety of props and special effects that he provided to the event. The City of Riverbank’s Recreation Department, community volunteers, and Riverbank High School students will all join forces to make this event happen for its eleventh year. City officials also stated that Pettit’s friends and students from the karate school have also volunteered to help with the scare sites and snack bar.

In the past the Hayride has been known to be quite the spooky ride with very detailed scenes and creativity, noted city staff. One year a scare site featured a graveyard with skulls on posts, spiders, a raven, an open coffin and the figure of a white faced monk standing guard at the entrance. The Haunted Hayride may be a ride of terror through the woods of Jacob Myers Park so experience the event, if you dare.

“The Hayride this year is definitely going to be different,” said Kerrie Webb, the City of Riverbank’s Recreation Supervisor. “Scott was a great asset to the overall success of the hayride and his humor while boarding guests on the trailers will surely be missed.”