ATHOL – Though the Athol Lions Club has made the decision to cancel this weekend’s Haunted Hayrides, plans are being made for a bigger and better event next year.

Lions Club President Kim Emond told the Athol Daily News Thursday that several circumstances arose in recent weeks which made holding the hayrides more problematic.

Emond said that, among other changes, it was decided to have the hay wagons towed by pickup trucks rather than tractors. More police and fire personnel were to be on scene than in years past, and issues regarding insurance had to be worked out.

These steps were taken as a result of last year’s hayride, when an accident with one of the wagons sent five people to the hospital with minor injuries.

Haunted Hayrides was scheduled to take place tonight and tomorrow night.

Planning for this year’s event began later in the year than usual, she said.

“Even before we started the process,” she said, “I had already been getting emails from people wanting to know if we were going to be having this. I let everyone know that we were waiting to see if we were going to be able to get a permit.

“Typically, in years past, we kind of knew that we would be able to get the permit; there was no question about it because there had never been an incident like there was last year. So this year, we weren’t quite sure what was going to have to happen in order to be able to this.”

Organizers met with police and fire departments, each of which voiced their concerns, said Emond. Once police and fire had given the go-ahead for the event, Emond said the Selectboard needed to be convinced that a repeat of last year would be avoided. She and her husband Derrick met with the board on Sept. 17, and received the approval to proceed with the hayride.

Emond added that – due in large part to the late start in planning – the hayride lacked the number of volunteers and actors needed to perform the skits that are a big part of the event. She said some of those interested in participating did express concern over the late start.

“Ultimately, it came down to the added cost of having to have the Fire Department there, as well as the Police Department,” Emond said. “We’ve always had a police detail, but this was going to be an added cost.”

Those costs resulted in an increase in ticket prices from $10 to $12 for those 12 and older. Tickets for those ages 3-11 remained the same as last year.

“We just felt we didn’t have the number of volunteers and skits that would have justified increasing the ticket price,” she said. “We didn’t want people leaving, saying, ‘I paid $12 for that?’ We really tried to wait as long as we could before canceling.”

While there may be no Haunted Hayrides this year, plans are in the works to resume the popular event in 2025, which also happens to mark the Athol Lions Club’s 75th anniversary. Something positive can be found in what has transpired this year, said Emond.

“All of the obstacles we faced this year are not going to be in the way next year,” she said. “It’s going to be like years past; we’ll just be able to get the ball rolling once River Rat has finished and be able to do all of the planning and preparation.”

And while the next Haunted Hayride may be a year away, Emond wants people to start planning now.

“Jan. 31 is the 75th anniversary of the Athol Lions Club. So we want to make sure that we make this as big as we can and get as many people as we can involved early on,” she noted, adding that some who had planned to take part this weekend “are excited about coming next year.”

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.