OUR VIEW: Say it ain’t so, Jasper

Staff Editorial
Published: October 10, 2008

» SUMMARY: There’s plenty of fun stuff to do in Culpeper this month; unfortunately, one particular Halloween tradition won’t be on the list.

To the dismay of fright-night enthusiasts across the region, Jasper’s Haunted Woods will not be open this year.

With both high school football games at home on Oct. 31, there won’t be enough sheriff’s deputies available for crowd and traffic control.

This is the second round of bad news for the Haunted Woods, as last year it was shut down early when two men started fighting about their spot in line. Founder and operator Nate Jasper, himself a deputy, said the event will probably return next year.

The Haunted Woods has been a Culpeper institution for the past 17 years, and it won’t even feel like Halloween without hearing a few screams emanating from the property on U.S. 522 northwest of town.

Here’s hoping that the Haunted Woods comes back next year.

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FARM DAYS: The 11th annual Culpeper Harvest Days Farm Tour recently gave folks a chance to check out the county’s working farms and the families who operate them. The Farm Tour is a worthwhile vehicle to remind people that, while Culpeper County has grown significantly in the past decade, our age-old tradition of farming is alive and well.

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CIVIL WAR: The Graffiti House, one of Culpeper’s most well-known landmarks, is getting a facelift. The Civil War-era graffiti adorning the walls isn’t going to be washed away, just maintained.

The house is undergoing a series of renovations aimed at keeping it “alive” for people of all ages to enjoy.

The Graffiti House gives visitors a tangible look at a war that, nearly 150 years later, Americans still need to remember.

And, speaking of Halloween happenings, don’t forget that the house hosts “A Spirited Night” with ghost stories galore Oct. 25.