[PLEASE CLICK “READ MORE”, BELOW,  TO SEE THIS ENTIRE POST] On  the evenings of  October 26th and 27th, St. John’s Lodge No.1 will be presenting a Haunted House on the first floor of the William Pitt Tavern from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in conjunction with Strawbery Bankes annual “Ghosts On The Banke” Halloween celebration.  We need help with the following to make this “haunting” a success:

Volunteers on the night of October 24th to help decorate the tavern from 5:30 p.m. to ??? If we cannot get it done in one evening we will need help on the 25th (we are hoping to get enough help on the 24th to complete decorating so we do not conflict with the Masonic ritual meeting taking place in Exeter on the 25th).

Candy!!!! We have been informed by Strawbery Banke’s Activity Director to expect to pass out 2,000 pieces of candy to the kids passing through . So far donations have netted approximately 450 pieces…we have a ways to go. Donations of Candy and Decorations can be left on the “rolling bar” in the Portsmouth Masonic Temples Auditorium.

Now the fun part – Volunteers in costume* to “haunt” the tavern on both evenings (if you can only make one evening…great..as long as we can get a “balanced number of haunters” between the two nights).

Clean-Up Crew – We need either enough volunteers to clean up the tavern and put it back together after 8:00 p.m. on the 27th, or have a “crew” show up at 11:00 a.m. on the 28th to pick-up. Strawbery Banke uses the first floor for training sessions and needs to be able to resume its programs in the tavern on the 29th..

Brothers, any help you can give in any of these areas will be greatly appreciated, but we really need the volunteers to come forward for the “decorating evening” on the 24th  and “haunting evenings” on the 26th and 27th.

BROTHERS FROM ANY OF OUR FELLOW LODGES ARE MORE THAN WELCOME TO PARTICIPATE  IN THIS ACTIVITY AS HAUNTERS, DONATORS, DECORATORS OR CLEAN UP CREW.

*(Strawbery Banke has requested all haunters (including their own) be “Harry Potter or Herman Munster spooky” but not “Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Freddy Krueger” scary”. The average age of kids attending Ghosts On The Banke is 6 years and in the past some of the hauntings have proved a bit much for the younger kids to handle.

Note: If you plan on being a “Haunter”, and we would love to have you, think in terms of arriving on the 26th and 27th by 5:00 p.m. (if possible) – parking in in-town Portsmouth is hard enough to find on any Friday or Saturday evening never mind with this activity which will draw hundreds of visitors. [continue checking this site for updates on this event].