SUMTER, S.C. — “We scare because we care” is the motto of the Terror Trail at 2nd Mill Pond in Sumter. The haunted trail is celebrating its 11th year of scaring for a good cause. 100% of the proceeds go back into the local community.
It was started by Brian Davis, who says he’s a “Halloween kind of guy.”
“Being in the military, I was never really around for Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year's and all that,” Davis explains. “So I really grabbed hold of Halloween and ran with it.”
Now, he’s spreading that passion for the holiday with his community.
“About 11 years ago, we decided to do a fundraiser for the [Shaw Air Force] Base Boy Scout Troop. And then we pulled into some other boy scouts and whatnot. We've been growing bigger and better every year,” the trail’s founder and trustee of Sumter Elk’s Lodge, Brian Davis, explains. “So we went from 300 yards long to just about a mile long. And when you come down here into the trail, as you can see from some of the vegetation as we walk, it's pretty dark in here even under a full moon.”
When the sun sets, Davis has a team of people helping him scare visitors including Boy Scout Troop 342, led by Assistant Scoutmaster Travis Norton.
“There are different trails or haunted houses around during this time of year but this one is unique for Sumter and it is them being able to give back to the community and for the community to give back to them,” Norton says. “They start well back in July coming out and starting to clear the trail and make kind of their designs of what they want to do. And so it takes a lot of time and a lot of effort. But it's all very much worth it.”
The scouts help get the trail ready for visitors and then work to operate it, earning money for their camping trips.
“They just become more and more sure of themselves. And by the time the end of October rolls around, parents are telling us that they've seen a change in their son just in a month,” Davis says about the character growth he notices in the volunteers, ages 11 to 17. “Scouts is all about growing young American citizens and that's really why I'm here and what I'm into.”
All of the proceeds that Davis makes from the trail either go to the Boy Scouts or other local groups like the Elk’s Lodge. This year, Davis says he plans to donate $10,000 to Central Carolina Technical College to buy student toolkits.
“The money goes directly back into the community. We like to tell everybody that money raised in town stays in town,” Davis says.
It’s a mission that Davis was determined to continue for the 11th year, even after he says nearly $8,000 worth of electrical wiring was stolen late this past spring.
“How do we open this year? You know, we were,” Davis chokes up with emotion. “I mean, it was a hit.”
Despite the setback, Davis tells me his team of volunteers helped him to restore the trail. This time, they are using solar lights that volunteers take in and out every night, adding an hour extra work at the beginning and end of each day.
“It's such a mixed ball of emotions, you know from support from the community to you know, the one bad egg in the community to what we're doing for scouts, the outside support,” Davis shares. “Everything. It's just huge.”
“In a small community like ours that relationships is what matters. And so by giving both ways it makes the world to the boys,” Norton explains. “The Scouts having this opportunity to give to their community and the community give back to the Scouts, it's that relationship that's the most important of anything out there.”
The Terror Trail is open through this weekend, next weekend and then again on Halloween night. For more information, you can visit the trail's Facebook page. The scaring starts each night at 7:30 and ends until the guests stop coming.