Boogerwoods

BOOGERWOODS....was started as a family Halloween Trail in 1976 for neighborhood kids . The first three years the event was free, church and scout groups would come . The forth we decided to charge $1.00 admission and give " All " proceeds to NC Chapter of Cystic Fibrosis . The reason we chose Cystic Fibrosis was because my wife Robin has lung problems and knows what kids go through with Cystic Fibrosis . From then on we have put the show on for them . It really makes the 70 to 80 VOLUNTEERS work that much harder when someone walks up with a child with CF , and thanks them for doing it . Most volunteers use their own money to buy the materials for their scene . Some start 2 to 3 months ahead in preparation for the big event . People ask why do we go to all the trouble and just do it three nights . Its because it is an all volunteer event and it is hard getting out of the woods around 2 or 3 AM and be at work at 6 AM the next morning. Some of the volunteers , from those first years have retired with honors , but still keep in touch . There are about 20 cast members that have been helping for the past 23 years .

The first location ,,,,, The original home place was on Phaniels Church Road . Boogerwoods was one of the first trails to use chain saws in the woods in North Carolina . It ran for two nights with the last group going through around 2 AM. During the 70's and 80's we had our regular scenes , with Witches , Ghosts , Dr. T , Graveyard Scenes , Elevators ,Dracula , Hangman , Gorillas swinging through trees , and the Chainsaws . Also the Boogerbusters cruising the woods.

The second location ,,,,, Downtown Kannapolis in a 3 story house . I believe this house was haunted to start with . People stood in line 3 hours in the rain . The show went back to it's original location for it's 10th Anniversary which was a Drive Thru . People still talk about that year . It was something else .

The third location ,,,, Hwy. 152 East at the intersection of Faith Road. The cast and crew are proud to say that they raised over $10,000 Dollars this past year ( 1999 ) in just three nights for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. We could raise a whole lot more , but when a group of 10 people leave every 7 minutes with their guides on the journey through Boogerwoods that takes around 40 minutes to complete the entire trail . We can only handle around 500 people a night. We also sold out of tickets each night before the event started.

The fourth location ,,,,, Back on Phaniels Church Road. Thousands of Volunteer Hours were spent moving to this location. An all new twister and flatbacks were built. Raised over $15,000.00 last year and was sold out.

Boogerwoods is a little different than most Haunted Attractions . The scenes that we have are a little different than a normal but that's the way we have always been . Having fun and scaring for the right reason is what Boogerwoods is all about . We have talked to people that have driven 150 to 200 miles to attend.

The only thing I hate is the wait in the line . But most people say it is worth it . Also that people are unable to purchase a ticket because of being sold out.

UPDATE AUG.2002...... The 2001 Boogerwoods was still a great success even after the terrible acts of Sept. 11. We decided that before we opened every night we would play the national anthem and shine a hugh light on the USA Flag we had in the waiting line. You could have herd a pin drop during it and that is something very positive to say about the volunteers in Boogerwoods and the people who came to see it. The new Vortex which took 5 months to build worked perfect and sounded great. The people really loved it. A new voting polls was added to the Boogerwoods website in which you could vote for your favorite scenes. This year we will be adding a new scene called Booger Animal Control. Its going to be great!

UPDATE JULY 2003 ..... Boogerwoods 2002 was a great success even if it did RAIN it still sold out each night. There was just a few things we could not do in the rain but we made up for it in other ways. The new voting poles worked well with Club Booger the winner with Booger Meat Packing, Boogerwinds, Twister and Vortex close seconds. 2003 there will be 2 new scenes and a couple old scenes retired. The 1'oclock mornings have already began for this year for a few of us. You got to love it and the cause. All for now.

UPDATE NOV. 2003....... Boogerwoods went great and raised over $20,000 for Cystic Fibrosis. The new scenes at Twister went Great. Jeepers Creepers went well in the bus. 3D room got a lot of response. Torture Chamber, Cemetery went well. The Ending surprised a lot of people. Rated by quite a few as the best Haunted Attraction in the 2 Carolinas. This is what is unreal. Sold out Nov. 1 in 12 minutes, Halloween in 1 hour, and the first 2 nights in 3 hours. We apologize to all the people who could not get tickets but we did all we could do. New website by JC had over 14,000 hits in less than a month. JC did a great job on it and added Charlie Daniels song Woolly Swamp with Charlies permission. By the polls Club Booger, Booger Meat Packing, Twister, Vortex, Boogerwinds, were top scenes.

UPDATE SEPT. 2005..... After a year off Boogerwoods is back with an all new show. New Scenes are the Drive Thru, Booger Middle School, Flatbacks are back, 3-D room and Vortex, New Ending, and all the favorite scenes like Club Booger, Booger Meat Packing, Twister and more. Most of the scenes have been completely rebuilt. New waiting line outside. Length of Trail has been cut a little to help cut down on wait time. New contest has been posted on website. New way to guide groups through is that each group will be guided by ALL Guides. One set of Guides will lead 2 or 3 scenes and new guides will take over. This is another way to try and cut down on wait time.

UPDATE OCTOBER 20, 2005.... After a Guides union meeting (a joke) we have decided to go back to one set of guides guiding all the way through instead of just 2 scenes. As of today there has been 582 entries in the contest to win tickets with only 9 correct answers to be drawn from. I had a great e-mail from a 11 year old boy with Cystic Fibrosis and also a lady with a 2 year old great niece with CF. That is the main reason for being in the woods.

Have a great day. Wayne

UPDATE AUG.3 2006...... Boy is it hot in the woods (about 100) but got to do what you got to do. We will be bringing back some old favorites in 2006 like Dr. T (all new)the hemroid specialist, Boogerassic Park (all new), Spider Silo (all new), and 2 new scenes, Massacre Manor, and a surprise. The ride this year will be from the waiting room to Dr. T's office. People in line last year really liked the LARGE screen to show the movies on. More later. Wayne

UPDATE: JULY 18TH. 2007................ Boogerwoods will never be the same again after the loss of our son Scott in a accident in April. We were not going to do the Woods at all but Robin and I decided that Scott had put 30 years of his 34 years into it that it would not be right not to do it. He was really looking forward to the 30th. anniversary with some new scenes. I will be hard to do but we will be doing it in his memory. He will be greatly missed. Thats the reason we are just doing it 3 nights. I believe God needed him more than we did. He loved to build Ponds and Waterfalls and have Boogerwoods. He was to be married in Sept. We will still have some new scenes, Booger Magic Car Wash,Booger Grocery,Clown School and a New Club Booger. Wayne