About a year of fundraising will soon culminate in a barn-raising for the team of volunteers behind the Cannington Haunted Trail.

After collecting more than $21,000 in donations, organizers are hoping to get to work on constructing a permanent facility in MacLeod Park and are looking for help from experienced builders over the June 17/18 and 24/25 weekends.

“This has been such an exciting project and we had such an amazing response from the community,” said Angela Canavan, chair of the volunteer committee.

“On top of that, we had our architectural drawings donated by Donald Southern of Southern Homes and have benefited greatly from project management from Phil Hegarty, Peter Prust and Kevin Macdonald. The Township has been very supportive as well.”

Though the building will primarily be used for storage, organizers are also planning to expand the maze portion of the event that has traditionally been held in the picnic shelter.

“This has been a ton of work but when it is all said and done it will be the saving grace to our setup/teardown and storage challenges. We want to continue running this event and the building will allow that to happen,” Canavan said.

“We do good things – we promote volunteerism, inclusion, skill-building, team-building and community engagement. Not to mention, put on a hell of a good show.”

Anyone that has turned out for the event over the past eight years would certainly agree. More than 1,600 people attended the event last year alone.

“The focus now is on recruiting builders,” Canavan added.

“We have been trying to create more buzz around town about needing skilled construction volunteers for a couple weekends in June…We will follow this all up with an official barn raising celebration, red ribbon cutting, donor and support recognition and lots of food and drink.”

Those interested in lending a hand can fill out an online form at www.canningtonhauntedtrail.com or call 705-341-6529.