My friends and family have been having huge Halloween bashes that have affectionately become known as "Eakfest" being that our last name is Eak and it's what one might say if they were to have the poop scared out of them!

My two daughters LOVE these parties, even more than Christmas! Every year, my husband would say, "ok, this is the last one. It's too much work" but, the girls would pout and Daddy would go through with it yet again.

It all began with a riding lawn mower, a bail of hay and some creative family members. The kids were little and we decided to have a good old fashion Halloween party for them. You know, apple bobbing, donut eating, limbo, stuff like that. The Dad's thought it would be fun to put the kids in the utility trailer and drive them around the yard for a hay ride. Next thing you know, some of the adults were jumping out from behind trees and making the kids scream like crazy. The kids LOVED it!

As the years rolled by, the scaring got more intense and the parties got a bit larger! We would often have more than 100 people in our yard waiting in line to go on a hay ride! We had dessert contests (one year, the winner was a filled bedpan, ewww!) costume contests and of course, all the usual dances for the kids to do; the macarena, the hokey pokey, you get the idea.

In 2006,we had decided that we were passing on our Eakfest tradition to my cousin and his wife but that October, our 12 year old daughter, Jackie was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. My husband and I were devastated and the last thing on our minds was a Halloween party. But, Jackie begged us to have one at our house. There was not one person who could deny her of anything at that moment so, we had it here. It was around that time that I thought, "I think that these parties are meant to be our way of fighting this disease. We have so many people that look forward to coming and I'm sure many more would too! We should turn it into a fundraising event!"

Of course, most people think that we are crazy for taking this on. I guess we are. But, with our family's help and support, I know we can do it. I think it could turn into a wonderful thing! Thank you, Chris & Alicia Eak