Oh, I'm so glad I live in.

A world where there are Octobers. A quote from Lucy Maude Montgomery from.

Anne of Green Gables. I'm quoting 20th century children's literature. Folks, thank you for joining me on another episode of 15 minutes with Fuzz. My name is Fuzz Martin, and this.

Is a show about positive vibes.

It's a show about things happening here in Washington County, Wisconsin, that are positive and uplifting.

And this week, also things that are spooky.

Emily Green, executive director of the Youth and Family Project, joins me this week to talk about their upcoming nightmares around Elm street event. Have you ever wondered about all the haunted, spooky things in West Bend? Well, now's your chance to learn about them and support the youth and family project at the same time. The events taking place on Friday, October 25, and there are going to be three walking tours that evening. So bring your walking shoes and keep your head on a swivel with that. Here are 15 minutes on the youth and family projects nightmares around Elm street event with Emily Green on 15 minutes with fuzz.

Emily, thank you so much for coming back on the show. I think it's your third time.

I think so. Yeah, I think so.

All right. You get a jacket. For those who maybe have not listened to every episode of Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz, first of all, why not? There's plenty of time. They're only 15 minutes long. Can you tell us quickly about or even not. Not even quickly. At your own pace, can you tell us about the youth and Family project and its mission?

Sure. The mission of the Youth and Family project is to provide supportive services to youth and families, helping them achieve an increased sense of safety, hope, and belonging. So we provide a variety of services all centered around that safety, hope, and belonging piece. So those include individual and group counseling services, supervised visitation, holiday support, homeless support for youth ages 18 to 24, and then some LGBTQ support as well.

Okay.

Very good.

And you guys, you're here in West Bend off Elm street, which we'll get to in a second.

Absolutely.

But you guys do some fun events throughout the year. You had the Christmas in July event. That was a lot of fun. At the West Bend High school, you have the gingerbread house, which is your upcoming piece that helps families who are in need during the holidays have a good holiday season, right?

Yeah. Sign up has already started.

It's wild, and people get really involved with that. I think it's. People love to give, and there's a lot of families to support, right?

Absolutely.

And this year, you're doing one the nightmares around Elm street. Is this a first year for this or second year? Second year. Okay. I thought I had heard about this in the past. So second year nightmares around Elm street is coming up on Friday, October 25. First of all, how did the idea come about?

Well, our fundraising committee this year is really working on figuring out ways to get creative and house fundraisers for the agencies that aren't, annual galas and golf outings and the same old, same old. Not there's anything wrong with those, but we try to bring a little creative flair to the table. So this was one of the options that we came up with and thought it was just zany enough to go forward with.

Excellent. So what can people who are attending nightmares around Elm street expect from the experience?

Sure. So the experience is primarily a haunted walking tour. So we'll start at the youth and family project agency building at 630 Elm street, and we'll start off with some spooky stories at the agency building. The building itself was built in 1894.

All right.

So it has quite a history. It's had a few uses over the years. Started out as Holy Angels rectory. It was briefly a hospital, a school, an apartment complex. So there's definitely a lot of stories coming on in there. Yes, absolutely. So once we set off from Ethan family project, we will take a tour through the more the residential areas of downtown West Bend and hear some spooky stories along the way, get a nice hike in, and then return back to the agency building. We'll have a fire in the parking area with spooky stories and s'mores, raffle baskets and other kinds of concessions like cocoa cider. What else do we have? We have cake pops, little spooky cookies, build your own trail mix so it'll be a great event.

All those things for purchase to help support the Youth and Family Project. So in your building at 630 Elm street, have you yourself ever experienced anything spooky?

I personally have not. I tend to be one of those people, unless it's, like, in my face. I won't, won't necessarily believe it. But I do know other staff have felt things. Once when I was an intern at the agency many years ago, a member of the intern cohort, we were touring the third floor of the building, and she had felt a presence in one of the rooms, and it was very strong. And later we learned out that someone had indeed killed themselves in that room.

Oh, wow.

Okay.

Yes. So there's quite a history with the building. Yes, definitely some spooky things.

So we get so we're, as we're recording this, for those who don't know, we're at epic creative, which was built in, I think, 1939. It's the old West Bend Mutual, which was the old museum of Wisconsin Art, which was the old Delta Defense. Everybody tells us that this building's haunted. I've been here till like four in the morning, many, many nights, like, working on projects. I've never experience anything. I don't want to, but I've never. I've never experienced anything. And some of the old people from Delta defense tell me that they're like, oh, yeah, it's haunted. And I'm like, maybe they were just haunting you. Maybe they, maybe they. Maybe they like me and they just want to leave me alone. Maybe they like the music I play at three in the morning. But there are some buildings around because it's, you know, this community was built in the 18 hundreds, so there's plenty of old kind of victorian type housing and things like that that lends itself to spookiness, creaky floors and things like that.

Yes, absolutely.

Lots of plaster to fall unexpectedly. So what kind of things go into planning an event like this? Because you're going on a walking tour. So there's more to it than just centrally planning an event that's within a space. Right. So what goes into it?

So throughout the year, we've been collecting stories. So we have a number of stories from last year, but obviously we don't want to use the same material over and over again so that people can get a fresh experience when they come this year. So we've been collecting stories, making sure that there are some good ideas out there and new ideas that we can share. And then obviously planning the route. We want to make sure that it's long enough that we get enough stories in, but not too long that people are exhausted by the end. So people can expect to walk about an hour. Last year, we did have one of the tours that lasted a little bit longer, but our tour guide got lost. So I promise that won't happen again this year.

You do say on the poster to wear comfortable shoes, right?

I do, yes.

So do that. How do you balance making it both fun and spooky? And it's geared for people at age 13 and up, right?

Yeah.

So how do you balance, you know, make that balance there?

So we try to balance some of the themes of the stories, trying to make sure that there's not too many of those really heavy stories about trauma and suicide. Obviously, with haunted stories, that does kind of go hand in hand. So we do try to bring in some more fun with it. We might have a few jump scares. We might have some other spooky stories around the fire, and then obviously, the sugar and the concessions is always a good fix for getting a little spooked at the end of the night.

Yeah. And of course, if you're signing up to go for a haunted tour, that's something you're the probably into, right?

Yeah.

Speaking of that, people are encouraged to wear costumes, right?

Yeah, sure.

Are you gonna wear a costume?

Um, that's a no. Sort of.

Okay.

All right. I have a dress that has a large, like, Anubis outline on it, so it's really the only day I can wear it.

I did notice you're wearing a horizontally striped sweater today, much like Freddy Krueger. Nightmare on Elm street.

Gotta get in the mood.

Yeah, exactly. So I was like, all right, I. Emily's going for correct wardrobe today. The funds that you raise from nightmares around Elm street obviously go to help support the youth and family project. Can you tell us more about how events like nightmares around Elm street support your organization's initiatives and support those in the community?

Yeah, absolutely. One of the biggest things that we are focusing in on this year for our fundraising efforts is ensuring the safety of the building. So that does include our security system. We do have security cameras throughout the building. They were installed in 2017, 2018, and unfortunately, that means that they're aging. That doesn't seem like that long ago, but all the technology is pretty much outdated. So we find ourselves in the position that we need to upgrade some of those security cameras and make sure that when we are providing those supervised visits and other programming at the agency building, that people have a safest, safe as experience as they possibly can.

Sure. Perfect. So for those who maybe aren't into spooky tours but still want to support your cause and the youth and family project's cause, how can they go about doing so? How can they get involved or contribute?

Yeah, so they can go ahead and visit our website and click on the donation links that are available on the website. We also will have other events throughout the year. As you mentioned, we have the Christmas in July, so we'll be doing that again next year. And our hope is to add a few more fun opportunities next year as well.

Great. This event, and like many other events, go. I mean, first of all, there is a fee to get tickets, right? So is it $10 in advance and 15 at the door?

Yes, that's correct.

And then you have three tours 737.

45 and 08:00 p.m. all right.

And then, but also, these are supported by sponsors, right? So if people want to sponsor the event, same way they can get in touch via the website.

Absolutely, yes.

So if you're a local business or organization that want to support and, and sponsor the nightmares around Elm street, again, it's youth and familyproject.org dot.

Yep, that's correct.

Last year.

Do you have any fun memories of the event last year? What was your favorite part of last year's event?

One funny story. Just as the last tour was about to set off at youth and family project, I was leading that one. And my kids were there at the agency building because there's lots of toys there. So they like to play. Good way to spend the time while mom's working. And they had been in my office and nobody really knew that they were in there. So as I was telling this initial scary story at the office in the kitchen area of the building, apparently my son was in my office, like banging on the door. And the other participants didn't realize that it was a child in there and thought it was all part of the experience. So that was pretty good.

Oh, that is good. Yeah. I was thinking you were going to say they heard little voices because that also adds to spooky.

Oh, definitely.

Kids voices can be either very cute or spooky if you're not expecting them.

Exactly.

Or spooky if you are expecting them, but need a break. All right. As we wrap up, if somebody is again wants to join the tour, the.

Date is Friday, October 25, and you.

Can get your tickets at youthandfamilyproject.org. $10 in advance, $15 at the door.

Correct.

Three tours 737 45 08:00 fun event Emily, thank you for coming in again. And you're welcome back anytime.

Awesome. Thanks for having me.

Thanks again to Emily Greene of the youth and Family project for joining me on this week's episode of Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz to talk about Nightmares Around Elm street.

Sounds like it's gonna be a lot of fun. And you can get your tickets today.

And learn about all the haunted and scary things that are lurking in the.

Basements and attics of all the 18 hundreds homes that are here in West Benda.

If you ever have an idea for a guest on this show, don't be scared. Reach out. Go to fuzmartin.com guest and fill out the form that is fuzzmartin.com guest. Or you can email me fuzzmartin.com. i don't bite fuzzmartin.com dot new episodes coming on Tuesdays, and you can listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, fuzzmartin.com, or wherever your spooky little heart desires. And with that, I will talk to.

You next Tuesday right here on Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz.