Zombies to take over downtown Menomonie
Stoutonia Vol. 103, No. 3 (October 4, 2012)
On Saturday, Oct. 20, the streets of downtown Menomonie will flood with hoards of people dressed as zombies for the 2nd Annual Menomonie Zombie Crawl. Events are planned for people of all ages and will make for a ghoulish time.
“People love zombies,” said Samantha Jablonski, a representative for the event. “We’re holding this event the weekend after midterms to allow students to blow off some steam and release their creative dark side."
“We want to unleash the zombies on downtown Menomonie to encourage students and other community members to support local businesses. It gives people a unique reason to dress up and have fun,” said Jablonski.
Events are planned for people of all ages— the entire day is filled with events ranging from specials at local restaurants and businesses to movie screenings and a corn maze. The only requirement receive these deals is to have a zombie-themed outfit.
“We’re giving students and community members a chance to show off their talents by holding a zombie-themed fiction reading and art show,” Jablonski said, “Local bars will hold specials throughout the night as well as a costume contest.”
With a record number of local businesses participating, this year’s event is already proving to be a success, but it wasn’t always so. Last year, the group’s first attempt to create the event was a bust.
“We knew that Minneapolis had a zombie crawl and Eau Claire was starting one, but none of us were able to attend either of the events,” Jablonski said. “We decided to host our own zombie crawl on short notice. Since we didn’t have much time to get the word out, last year’s event was not as big of a success as we had hoped. In contrast this year, we decided to start the planning early in hopes of making this an annual event. We created an integrated team dedicated to making the Menomonie Zombie Crawl a success.”
This year’s “zombie planning team” is a talented group comprised of students with backgrounds ranging from art and design, writing, business, marketing, event planning, and communications. The planning team was welcomed with open arms by the businesses in downtown Menomonie, who all seemed to be “very excited to take part in making sure that this year’s event is a success.” The “zombie planning team” includes Samantha Jablonski, Steve “Stan” Stangel, Russ Hall, Clay Blair, Lennon Te Ronde and Iner Borchardt-Jeppesen. It’s amazing what you can do with the support of the community.
So why zombies?
Jablonski explains, “Zombies invoke a very primal sense of fear that is embedded in all of our cultures from the very beginning. The idea that anyone you know could be a monster at any given time has been a strong theme in the horror genre since storytelling first started.”
The planning team’s favorite zombie-related entertainment are present in the form of movies such as Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland, Night of the Living Dead, and 28 Days Later as well as the television show The Walking Dead. Games such as Left 4 Dead and DayZ are also popular with the group.
Posters and business cards have been scattered throughout the community — all pointing to the Menomonie Zombie Crawl’s Facebook event page, where people can RSVP as well as find the corresponding fan-page or additional information.
But beware! Reports of “zombie hunter” costumes are in the works.
Promotions/Deals as of Sept. 30, 2012
Bar Specials
The Buck – $2 off any personal pitchers
Waterfront – $1 off all drinks all day for zombies
Das Bierhaus – $3 off all boots
The Pickle – TBA
Kahootz – TBA
The Den – $1 Taps
The Flame – $2 rail mixers
Meet Market – $2 Rob Zombie shots $3.50 zombie gut punch
Restaurant Specials
Waterfront- $3 off all meals for zombies
Legacy Chocolates – 10% off
Acoustic Café – zombie poetry reading
Vagabond Bakery – gingerdead cookies
Raw Deal – TBA
Ted’s Pizza – Small 1 topping pizza and pop for $6.95
Toppers – 20% off
Other Promotions
Cherry Pickers – TBA% discount for zombies
Flowers on Main – 25% off cash and carry on fresh cut flowers for zombies
Buddah’s – free hookah for zombies
La-Dee-Dah – 15% off storewide
Town & Country Antiques- 10% off general public 15% off for zombies
Cogitare Books – 10% off all purchases
Menomonie Market Co-op – Free undead energy bites, drawing for gift card
State 4 Cinema – free pizza samples, showing of Zombieland
Govin’s Berry Farm – $1 off admission
Mike’s Art & Design Supply – 15% off
Menomonie Theatre Guild – $2 off admission on advance purchase tickets with the code “I am a zombie crawler”
What it looked like in print:
