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Gettysburg Battlefield Resort
October Newsletter, 2022

“Listen! The wind is rising, and the air is wild with leaves, we have had our summer evenings, now for October eves.” – Humbert Wolfe

At most campgrounds, especially those north of the Mason-Dixon line, September is a time of mellow rest and recovery after the bustle and boisterous summer months. Here in Gettysburg, September is the eye of the storm, for October is a tornado of all sorts of activity! One of our favorite weekends leads off October – Pamper Your Pet Weekend, which means it’s time for the GBR Annual Dog Paddle! Look for pet centered activities and crafts, take a look at our beautifully renewed dog park and help us support Project Centaurus, an international organization taking in traumatized dogs and horses coming out of Ukraine.

And then there is Halloween … While Gettysburg is well-known for its history, there is a whole other side of Gettysburg that is very different, but equally as fascinating. Long ago, over a three-day period, thousands of young men tragically lost their lives in these fields in a bloody terrifying battle. What happened here on those hallowed grounds is important to remember historically, but apparently also makes for a lot of paranormal activity, if you believe in that sort of thing. For those who do believe, the veil between the living and the dead thins around the days and nights surrounding All Hallows Eve. Ghost tours and paranormal investigations abound, cameras fill with mysterious orbs, there is a marked increase of ghostly images captures on nighttime videos of the battlefield, and there is a near epidemic of people reporting strange bumps and thumps at the Orphanage or on the Bridge. It’s not just downtown Gettysburg or the battlefields that experience unusual activity – many of us here have experienced some unexplained phenomena here, even if we don’t like to talk about it. It makes sense since our campground was part of the battlefield. In fact, if you look closely at the Sales Building, you can see the original structure of a farmhouse that played an important role during the battle.

So yes, in October, Gettysburg transforms into Halloweentown, and so does the resort! We celebrate not just one weekend of Halloween but three crazy, fun-filled, trick or treating, costuming, pumpkin patching weekends. Our first Halloween weekend is stuffed full of Halloween crafts, costume contests, pumpkin painting, golf cart judging, site judging and of course trick or treating! Another treat – a concert by the amazing Chris Woodward and Shindiggin’! The last two weekends will have more of the same but look for a very special Scaring is Caring Haunt on the last two Saturday nights!