Wonder Lake Ski Team Haunted Hayride offers frights while keeping the skiers on the water

The previous three weekends, those seeking a ghoulishly good time could find a few scares at Peterson Park in McHenry where the Wonder Lake Ski Team was holding its annual Haunted Hayride fundraiser.

“This is our largest fundraiser supporting the Wonder Lake Ski Team,” said team member and skier Dana kurchina-Tilling, who also owns KT Cleaning and snow removal. “Without the hayride, we wouldn’t be out on the water.”

Though the numbers weren’t in as to how much they raised, Kurchina-Tilling said that approximately 3,500 people enjoyed the event, which operated Oct. 10, 16, 17, 23 and 24.

Jason Rishling, another skier and member of the team, said that there were 17 or 18 scenes in the Haunted Hayride. These included a cannibal scene, a campers scene, a clowns scene and a bio-hazard scene.

“I was in the bio-hazard scene,” said Rishling. “Everything was gory. We had body bags hanging and we had someone in one of the bags. They would shake when people went by and scare them.”

As the name suggests, those who went through the Haunted Hayride did so while pulled in a hay wagon. While approximately 75 people filled spots in the scary scenes, the Ski Team also had volunteers pulling the wagons. Denny Norton, of Performance Unlimited, pulled wagons on Oct. 24. He had also volunteered for the 23rd but, due to the rain, they didn’t use the wagons.

“This was a gas,” said Norton, who pulled the wagons behind his Performance Unlimited Silverado pickup truck. “People had a good time getting scared – but not too scared.”

Kurchina-Tilling said the Haunted Hayride is quite scary but also family friendly. She said that, the last day, Oct. 24, almost 1,200 people went through the Haunted Hayride.

The Wonder Lake Ski Team is a four-time national champion competition water ski team. Last year, they finished fifth in the nation at the Rockford Nationals. Next year, the Nationals are in Janesville, WI.

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