‘Halloween Bash’ returns to Evansville Wartime Museum for third year

Posted: Oct 29, 2023 / 10:24 PM CDT

Updated: Oct 30, 2023 / 06:11 AM CDT

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WEHT) — “Halloween Bash” opened to the Evansville Wartime Museum for the third year on Sunday afternoon which the museum says helps guests both learn and have fun.

“Evansville has a fascinating history during conflicts like World War I, World War II — you name it — but also in general, this city has an incredible history that over time has kind of gotten away from us,” said museum events committee chairperson Dona Bone.

The main event was for kids to do a scavenger hunt while skeletons around the museum helped give out hints on where the answers could be found.

Those that finished the hunt about World War II history went home with candy.

Skeletons helped lead visitors to answers about Phyllis Hill’s wedding dress at the museum. The dress itself was made from her husband’s parachute in World War II.

Another skeleton helped lead visitors to learn about Lucille Hudson — known as “Mom” to soldiers at the USO building at 8th and Main Street.

Rumor has it that Hudson fixed a million of the soldiers’ garments between 1941 and 1945.

“We accomplished a great deal here on the home front during World War II, and a lot of our exhibits display that — the 167 LSTs that were built here; the 6,242 P-47 Thunderbolt planes that were built here; the 1,400 Sherman tanks that were refurbished. So, I could go on, and on and on — over 300 different products produced here during World War II that helped win that war,” Bone said.

Staff members with the museum tell us they put on their Halloween Bash as one way to help future generations learn how veterans and those in the war effort made a difference for America today.

“We had veterans who fought in those wars that also helped win those wars,” Bone said. “So, it’s a little bit about our history — what we did to get where we are today. And the stories are important.”