Hundred Acres Manor opening
Ask Hundred Acres Manor co-principal Bill Wolfe about the coming season for the haunted attraction in Bethel Park, and he?ll tell you some good news.?
“In the 13 years that my partner and I have been running it, we’?ve donated $1.9 million to local charities.?”
But bad news came over the summer for Wolfe and Ted Sobek, president and chief executive officer, as some still-unidentified miscreants broke into Hundred Acres Manor and stole $10,000 worth of equipment and other valuables.?
“Like I tell people, they didn’?t only steal from us,”? Wolfe said.
They stole from homeless kids. They stole from foster kids. They stole from people with leukemia. And they stole from animals, too.?The nonprofit organization?s primary beneficiaries since the start have been Animal Friends and the Homeless Children?s Education Fund. Other recipients include the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and Ward Home Inc., the Scott Township-based provider of residences and services for at-risk youth, for which Wolfe serves as executive director.?We?re still ready to go,? he said about Hundred Acres Manor?s scheduled opening on Sept. 8. ?We?ve gotten the insurance claim, and we?ve replaced all the equipment.?He and Sobek started the venture when both were serving on the board of the Homeless Children?s Education Fund and were looking for a way to help the then-relatively new organization financially.?Our goal was to raise $5,000 a year to contribute to the Homeless Children?s Education Fund,? Wolfe recalled.The popularity of the attraction, which is located within Allegheny County?s South Park, has helped to exceed those expectations by a vast amount.?We?re proud of the fact that we?ve given $1.9 million and we?re a charity haunted house,? Wolfe said. ?We?re also ranked as one of the top 10 haunted houses in the United States. So that?s quite an accomplishment.Hundred Acres Manor, 1 Hundred Acres Drive, Bethel Park, is open Fridays through Sundays during September, with an expanded schedule afterward running through Oct. 29.For more information, visit www.hundredacresmanor.com.