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Office of Public Affairs | |
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| Press Release |
Date: November 7, 2007 |
NIGHTMARE ON PIER 17PHOTOS AVAILABLE | |
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Story by Petty Officer Third Class Tara Molle, Coast Guard District Thirteen A blood red sun begins to set over the Columbia River in Astoria, Ore. Night draws near bringing a sharp crisp chill that settles eerily into the sleepy town. The air is silent. It enhances all other sounds that would have been suppressed by powerful winds. Creatures of the night begin to emerge from the land and sea and yellow eyes begin to peer out from behind trees and shrubbery. The sky is now as black as a raven's feathers and a harvest moon rises from the far horizon giving a frightening glow to ships scattered throughout the harbor. A white cutter bobs ever so slightly against Pier 17 giving it a ghostly presence. Ghouls, goblins, vampires and other Halloween creepers wait hungrily on board for their first set of victims to tour the haunted ship. To keep with the Halloween spirit, the Coast Guard Cutter Alert, homeported in Astoria, has been conducting "haunted tours" onboard for over five years. Most of the ship's crew along with their family and friends join together for two nights of fun thrills and chills. Admission for the tour is simple. The crew just asks that people bring canned goods instead of having to pay a fee. "The food drive is the main focus for this event," said Ens. Andrew Pritchett. "We ask people to donate non-perishable items such as canned goods. All of the food is donated to the Astoria Food Bank in town." "The town looks forward to it every year," said Cmdr. Charles Alcock, the Executive Officer on board the Alert. "We had almost twelve-hundred people come last year and collected over two thousand pounds of food." "We ask that you donate some canned food for charity as the price of admission," said Ens. Edward Quinn. "It's awesome to see the pile grow as the night goes on. We have a lot of fun and it's for a good cause, which is pretty hard to beat." The crew spends two to three days turning their workspaces into what would seem like something from a scene from a horror movie. Passageway walls are lined with endless amounts of black plastic to a create an even darker effect when the lights are turned off. Many rooms are transformed into freakishly frightening scenarios a person must endure in order to continue on through the tour. What will one find in this room? A wicked witch perhaps? Or possibly a demented doctor, a bloody butcher, a menacing madman? The possibilities of spooks are endless. "It's nice to let loose and scare people," said Liz Alcock, daughter of Cmdr. Alcock. "It's great to do something for the community. My favorite part is when people see Kassie (Ens. Kasandra Mertens) lying on the floor pretending to be a mannequin. People don't know if she is real or fake and when they lean in close to see, she'll move and scare them." "Our crew loves getting in character and cutting loose," said Quinn. "The actors definitely want to give the guests what they came for." The tour takes place on a Friday and Saturday night from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. As people arrive, the sun has already begun to set as if beginning to set the mood for the evening. Spine-chilling Halloween music and sounds begin to play over loudspeakers placed around the cutter and pier. Two separate tour times are then set for different age groups. "This is the first year we had two separate times to appeal for more of an audience," said Pritchett. "The first half is for kids 9-years-old and below and the second half is for 10 and up. That way we can tone it down for the younger kids." Safety is also a key factor in the success of the haunted ship. "We have small groups of five to ten with escorts to provide safety on the ship," said Cmdr. Alcock. "We also have rotating security to ensure people are not intoxicated or tearing down the decorations. There are evacuation plans set in case of emergency." Some children do not even make it into the entrance of the tour. The dark stairwell leading into the bow of the ship can seem quite daunting. They are accompanied by a parent or family member and when a situation arises where they become really scared, the "character" will immediately cease acting. "If the younger kids get really scared, we get out of character and tell them everything is fake," said Liz Alcock. Most of the children are able to brave the creepsters and freakouts hiding throughout the ship. They are handed glow sticks at the beginning of the tour to have some light through the dark corridors. At the end of the tour, a large treasure chest sits full of a wide variety of yummy treats and candy for the kids to choose from. "The blinking lights were fun," said John Stevens, from Seattle, a huge grin plastered across his face and a lollipop firmly gripped in his right hand. "I like the suckers at the end." John's sister Destiny explained in wide-eyed fear that she encountered a severed hand on the floor that freaked her out. "The people coming out of corners was scary," said Colton McAster, from Astoria, Ore., still shivering slightly from his encounter. Many families who attend are repeaters from years before and there is of course always fresh blood to experience the event. "We go every year," said Liz McAster, from Astoria and mother of Colton McAster. Once the children's portion of the tour ends, the crew is given a 30-minute break to freshen up and grab some water before the adult tour commences. Then, there are no boundaries and all hell breaks loose. Shrieks, howls and bloodcurdling screams can now be heard throughout the entire ship. Friends clutch each other tightly urging each other to "go first." The crew is now in full effect, using the dark to their advantage to make people really jump out of their skin. "It's so much fun to volunteer for this," said Angela Sidlow, mother of Petty Officer 1st Class Corey Sidlow. Angela Sidlow is dressed in full witch garb and is really a sight to see. Green paint covers her entire face causing her emerald eyes to stand out even more. She waits in the galley with a cauldron filled with dry ice, rubber snakes and spiders, which she offers as food in exchange for an appendage. Group after group continues to brave their way onto the ship. A line stretches from the brow entrance to the end of the pier and a nervous excitement seems to make its way through the crowd. The tour finally comes to an end and satisfied customers can be seen walking off the pier and reminiscing frantically about their happy haunt excursion. Crew members begin to emerge from open hatches and dark hallways, removing masks exposing ear to ear grins. This is now another successful "haunted ship" year for the Alert. It takes almost two to three days to fully get the cutter back to normal, what with taking down decorations and removing the endless amounts of hay that has been scattered throughout the entire flight deck. The crew members, exhausted and hoarse from scaring townsfolk for the last four hours, now clean up what they can and say their goodnights to one another. They will return the next day to swap stories of who got the best scare. The last crew member departs for the evening leaving a dark cutter to sit in the moonlight against Pier 17. I am now alone on the pier and as I gather my camera gear and notepads I, for a split second, see movement out of the corner of my eye toward the end of the dock. A sharp chill runs down my spine and I pray it was just my imagination.
SEATTLE - Parents and children begin to line up on Pier 17 for the Coast Guard Cutter Alert's haunted ship tour in Astoria, Ore., October 27. The Alert crew had just returned from a 60-day patrol and had only four days to set up the ship. Crew members, family and friends all volunteered their time and creativity in setting up the ship and conducting tours for two nights. (Official Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Tara Molle)
SEATTLE - Petty Officer 3rd Class Matthew Pincumbe conducts mock heart surgery on a mannequin during the Coast Guard Cutter Alert's haunted ship tour in Astoria, Ore., October 27. Crew members, family and friends all volunteered their time and creativity in setting up the ship and conducting tours for two nights. (Official Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Tara Molle)
SEATTLE - Lt. Charter Tschirgi gives a grim look as he sits in the electrocution chair during the Coast Guard Cutter Alert's haunted ship tour in Astoria, Ore., October 27. Crew members, family and friends all volunteered their time and creativity in setting up the ship and conducting tours for two nights. (Official Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Tara Molle)
SEATTLE - Angela Sidlow offers some interesting snacks to children during the Coast Guard Cutter Alert's haunted ship tour in Astoria, Ore., October 27. Crew members, family and friends all volunteered their time and creativity in setting up the ship and conducting tours for two nights. (Official Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Tara Molle)
SEATTLE - Angela Sidlow, mother of Petty Officer 1st Class Corey Sidlow, smiles excitedly during the Coast Guard Cutter Alert's haunted ship tour in Astoria, Ore., October 27. Crew members, family and friends all volunteered their time and creativity in setting up the ship and conducting tours for two nights. (Official Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Tara Molle)
SEATTLE - (from left to right) Fireman Brandon McNair, Fireman Rhett Alven and Fireman Ricky Branin stand ready for their first set of "victims" to tour the Coast Guard Cutter Alert's haunted ship in Astoria, Ore., October 27. Crew members, family and friends all volunteered their time and creativity in setting up the ship and conducting tours for two nights. (Official Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Tara Molle)
SEATTLE - A Harvest Moon rises from the horizon during the Coast Guard Cutter Alert's haunted ship event in Astoria, Ore., October 27. Crew members, family and friends all volunteered their time and creativity in setting up the ship and conducting tours for two nights. (Official Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Tara Molle) | |
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