By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
One of the Decatur Callithumpian Festival’s most popular events has made its final ride.
Max Miller, local retailer and historian, has announced that the Haunted Wagon Tours will no longer be held.
The wagon tours were provided by Miller’s Famous Monster Pizza and DeAnn Lengerich of Camelot Carriage Rides, located on Winchester Road outside of Decatur.
“DeAnn and I have mutually decided to retire from the grueling October schedule the wagon tours required,” Miller said in a Facebook post. “We’re proud and grateful to be stepping away while the tours are still at the top of their game, successful, well attended, and loved by so many.
“We also want to thank the thousands of patrons who supported us over the years. We shared many beautiful and spooky autumn evenings, as well as some wet, windy, and bitterly cold ones, but we loved every minute of it and hoped you did too.”
What began in 2011 with just six tours over one weekend grew into a treasured October tradition, he pointed out.
In later years, the schedule expanded to every weekend in October, with more than 32 tours and nearly 500 tickets sold each season. Tickets were quickly gobbled up as they became available each year.
“I wish to extend my heartfelt thanks to DeAnn Lengerich and crew from Camelot Carriage Rides for helping make these tours so memorable,” Miller said in the post. “DeAnn, her beautiful horses, and the wagon have been a very special part of the experience from the beginning.
“Also thanks to my wonderful wife Tami, who did the job of ticket taker each year and, of course, to the mysterious Woman in Black, Wheelchair Mary and the evil Belle Gunness.”
Miller concluded with a “tease” for the future:
“The wagon may have made its final journey, but something new is stirring in the shadows of Decatur. Listen closely, you may soon hear whispers of what comes next. Stay tuned!”
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