Haunted Homestead a ‘Labor of Love’

Photo by Kui Adolpho.

By Catherine Cluett Pactol

For the second year, the Adolpho ‘ohana went all out for Halloween, providing a free, COVID-safe event for families to celebrate the season at their homestead. The four-day Haunted Homestead last Wednesday through Saturday nights featured a light show, haunted maze, jumping castle, photo booth, vendors, snacks and other activities. More than 1500 community members attended in one-hour time slots that ensured COVID safety guidelines were met. 

“It’s really a labor of love,” said Kui Adolpho. “It takes us months to set up and plan, but it’s a family activity to do together. Having an objective creates this closer-knit unit that we already have and inspires our kids to see that giving back to our community is important but can still be fun.”

She said they started the event last year when COVID cancelled traditional community Halloween events like HallowHim and trick or treating. Still wanting to do something for local keiki and keep safety at the forefront while not replacing the other longstanding events, her family imagined new ways to celebrate. 

This year, the highly-sought-after time slots for the free event were booked by early October, but Adolpho said they tried to accommodate as many families as possible. 

“It was our biggest showing and seeing everyone’s smiles and the kids in awe was totally worth it,” she said. “You could tell everyone was appreciative and that’s really what it’s all about for us. We’re really grateful for everyone who did come.”