Maxwell business caters to families, children for Halloween

By LPR Staff
Editor/POST-REGISTER

While other area businesses are preparing for Halloween by figuring out how to give customers the “heebie-jeebies,” a new Maxwell business has decided to cater to family fun.
Joe Flanagan, who recently purchased the Maxwell Cotton Gin, has planned a two-day haunted house this weekend in his 800-square-foot building.

>
“We tried to make it appropriate for families with smaller children, which means it”s not too scary,” Flanagan said. “If we get some older kids or teenagers coming through, though, it won”t be too hard for us to spice it up for them.”
Flanagan, who with the help of his crew put the Haunted House together in less than two months, said he also coordinated music and food booths, and attempted to find volunteers to pass out trick-or-treat candy to his visitors.
“I just bought the property and a house in Maxwell, and I was just hoping to do something to attract families out here to have fun and see what we”re doing.”
He said admission fees for the haunted house are set at $20 per family, and that the price does not limit numbers of family members.
“I had someone call and ask me if it was okay that they had two adults and eight children,” he said. “We”re really not doing this hoping to make a whole lot of money – we just want to do something geared toward the families with the smaller kids. What it comes right down to is that we don”t want them to be disappointed with what we”ve put together.”
The Cotton Gin haunted house will open at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 26 and Saturday, Oct. 27. Visitors will be able to explore the house on a walk-through, rather than a guided tour basis. Tours are expected to take between 15 and 20 minutes, Flanagan said.
Later this year, Flanagan intends to continue expanding his newly-acquired cotton gin into an event center capable of hosting not only weddings and parties, but sporting events, as well.
“We have volleyball courts, and have already hosted a tournament out of San Marcos,” Flanagan said. “We also have washer courts, and are planning to build the Longest Bar in Texas.”
In addition, Flanagan said the center hopes to play host to PGRA bullriding competitions, chili and fajita cookoffs and, eventually, music videos and movies.
“We found out that part of the old gin is still standing,” he said. “It has the date right on there that it was built in 1869, and we want to get that running again, because it”s a neat feature in the building.”
For additional information on the The Cotton Gin haunted house, or other events, contact Flanagan at (512) 789-4757.