Fall Festival event offers hauntings

With Halloween just around the corner, the Crestmont Resident Council and Big Brothers Big Sisters are preparing to celebrate with children of all ages.\nThis Saturday, the Crestmont Resident Council will host its third annual Fall Festival from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Crestmont Resident Council Building, located at 1002 N. Summit View Place. The event will offer candy, games, crafts and face painting to families of the Crestmont community and Walnut Woods, as well as members of Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Crestmont Boys and Girls Club. The activities are all free of charge and include a haunted house tour from 6 to 8 p.m.\nMark Voland, director of community programs for Big Brothers Big Sisters and an organizer of the Fall Festival, said the festival does well each year.\nIU students will also take part in this event with several organizations, including the School of Education’s Dean’s Advisory Council, IU’s chapter of National Society of Collegiate Scholars and the Undergraduate Marketing Club. The student volunteers will work the event and provide supplies and support.\nVoland said the event would not be successful without help from IU students, who make up about half of the volunteers at Big Brothers Big Sisters.\n“They are very valuable to us,” Voland said. “They help reach out to the community and provide support.”\nMembers of First Mentors, an IU organization affiliated with Big Brothers Big Sisters, also played a role in organizing the event. Group volunteers helped build the haunted house and provided supplies, candy and decorations for the event, said Boyd Jackson, the group’s president.\n“They act as a work force to help organize and bring in more volunteers,” he said.