Almost 50 members of the Tyrone Area High School National Honor Society spent the day volunteering in the community at Camp Anderson on September 23, 2025.
The students helped the camp prepare for its biggest fundraiser of the year, Fear Fest, a haunted house and hay ride open to the community.
NHS members did many jobs around the camp, including installing walls for the escape rooms, painting murals, running cables to the haunted house, stacking wood, moving tent frames from one end of the camp to the other, moving sets, and several pieces of equipment into place.
“I brought over the tents for the entrance and helped stack wood pallets for the bonfire. It was nice to help set up the Halloween event,” sophomore NHS member Cooper Spicer said.
NHS advisers and TAHS teachers Tracy Redinger and Kathy Beigle organized the event with the help of retired TAHS teacher and Camp Anderson board member Cummins McNitt.
By the end of the day, the camp was far closer to being ready for the community to enjoy Fear Fest.
NHS members left proud of the work they had accomplished and excited to see the event come to life.
“The students I worked with throughout the day seemed to have a really nice time helping out at the camp. They were happy to be there and were pretty proud of the work they accomplished,” said Redinger.
Although the weather was rainy and not ideal, the students made the most out of the experience.
“I know that Mr. McNitt expressed tremendous gratitude for our help,” Redinger said, “Our students were able to accomplish in one day what would have taken their organization several days to complete. They are actually ahead of their normal schedule because of the work we did.”
The service day at Camp Anderson allowed NHS students to contribute to a community tradition while learning valuable skills and making memories.
FearFest opened last weekend and will be open this coming weekend, Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, from 6 pm until 11 pm.
Visitors should park at Smith Transport (GPS address: 13985 S. Eagle Valley Road, Tyrone, PA) and ride the free shuttle to and from camp. The shuttle will begin at 6 pm and he last bus to camp will depart around 11 pm.
The cost of admission for FearFest is $10 per person for the haunted house and hayride, $8 per escape room, $8 for the Orbeez shooting gallery. The kitchen will also be open with a full menu of food available.
