A WARRIOR STUDENT MEDIA Publication
McHenry Community High School | Volume 5, Issue 2 | October 30, 2023
Hitting all the bases (at some point) NEWS
Photo by: Leylah Moreno
See side two for the full story
McHenry community organizes Halloween events
During the spooky season, community organizations and families are sponsoring activities for all ages Kiera Miller Staff Writer
FEATURES
With Halloween right around the corner, the city of McHenry is preparing for the upcoming holiday, scheduling events for the scary season. With Halloween right around the corner, the city of McHenry is preparing for the upcoming holiday, scheduling events for the scary season. William Beith, a village administrator from Wonder Lake, states “Events like Fall Fest provide the opportunity for the entire community around the lake to gather and share wonderful Wonder Lake.” Wonder Lake is throwing their first Fall Fest at the Village Hall on Oct. 28. Nicki Jansen from Nightmare on Rogers, a local haunt in McHenry, stated, “we’ve always enjoyed it. People purposely come to our house every year. We’ve tried to trick or treat in the past and we’ve been coming for years.” Matt Mabus runs a haunt called CarnEvil next door to Jansen. He has been at this location for two years and before that in Round Lake since 2010. “I like decorating mainly for ourselves, but we also do it for the community to be able to enjoy it,” said Mabus. Mabus is a part of the Chicago Haunt Builders, a community with thousands of people that have larger yard haunts.
He advertises on Facebook and TikTok and posts the best scare of the week on his Facebook page. The best scare gets a trophy. Though the Haunted Hayride at Peterson Park ended on Oct. 21, it has become one of the most popular Halloween activities in the area each year. “It’s our major fundraiser of the year,” hayride volunteer Jacki Cullen said. “We have a lot of boats needing gas during the shows and pay for insurance for the boats.” “We have expenses for costumes every year,” she adds. “This is probably half our budget for the hayride.” Many MCHS students and community members enjoy these events and how they change throughout the years. They provide opportunities for the community to come together. Students in Key Club, for example, can volunteer for the Halloween Bash at McHenry Recreation Center on Oct. 27 and Riverwood’s Trunk-Or-Treat on Oct. 26. Sophomore Norah McMillion says, “Older siblings, when they were in high school, would always volunteer with Key Club, so you can get your hours.” This year's trick or treating times in McHenry and McCullom Lake is going on from 4:00 through 8:00pm. In Wonder Lake and Holiday Hills, trick or treating will be from 4:00 through 7:00pm.
Future fighters
Olivia Smith Social Media Manager
A student is disheartenedly looking at their college options. While they want to get a good education, and a substantial career, they unfortunately will not be able to cover the costs. The student then begins looking at their options. For the first time, they start to consider enlisting in the military, but they are unaware of how to enlist and what this option would involve. With an average of less than one percent of graduating students enlisting in the military each year, most people are unaware of what compels people to serve. While becoming an active member of the military is quite challenging, it also offers a multitude of benefits for those who enlist. “My experience has been primarily positive. I have been in the Marines for almost 15 years,” said Patrick Christensen, a U.S. Marine Corps Recruiter. "Of course, the Marine Corps is also very challenging, but it has shaped me into who I am today.”
There are many different service options offered. For example, one of the lesser-known options in the military is the National Guard. The National Guard is a part of the Army and Air Force Reserves that respond to local and national emergencies. The Guard is generally part time, which allows students to attend school while typically serving two paid weeks out of the summer, and one weekend a month. “A couple reasons I decided to commit were for one I'm strongly influenced and inclined to do all I can to help people, my community or even my country,” said Brayden Mosoff, a senior at MCHS committed to the National Guard. Some of McHenry’s graduating class enlist in the military every year. Choosing a military post secondary pathway is a commitment unlike any other. It requires a lot of time, dedication, and perseverance, which is why it is one of the lesser-chosen options. “Honestly, leaving my friends, family, and my girlfriend has been pretty hard on me,” said Mosoff. "I don't want to leave them, however knowing that I am
The CarnEvel in McHenry is a local haunt, a private residence that decorates for Halloween and invites trick-or-treaters to enjoy some quick scares. | Photo by Kiera Miller
About 25 MCHS graduates enlist in the military every year, though most students are unaware of what it entails
Raymond Wilkinson stands before military flags after enlisting into the US Marine Corps Delayed Entry Program on Sept. 12. | Photo Courtesy of Patrick Christensen
leaving for a good reason has also made me realize that it is a struggle I can work through with time.” There are many different reasons why people decide to serve our country. While joining the military offers many
benefitsand is often very rewarding, it requires sacrifice most people are not willing to take. Making the commitment. to become a future fighter may not always be comfortable, but it is fulfilling.
SPORTS
New Upper Campus baseball field still in progress
The field’s construction should be done by the end of March, and marks a major change into the baseball program
Sod has been installed in the outfield on the new baseball diamond behind the Upper Campus. Construction began over the summer just before the school year started. | Photo by Mackenzie Sroka
Hunter Blake Sports Editor
A&E
The upcoming 2024 baseball season at MCHS marks a big change made to the program, with a new turf field with a sod outfield being built behind Upper Campus, which used to accommodate the old soccer field, as the team moves away from its former home Petersen Park. The field is currently being constructed at the moment and will feature a turf infield, bullpens for the teams pitchers, batting cages, a new press box, bleachers and a sod outfield. The field’s construction should be done
before the beginning of March, and the former varsity field at Petersen Park will be given to the freshman for their own new field as well. Many people involved with Warrior Athletics are excited and optimistic about the new field, as it marks a big change to the program with many benefits for the team. Athletic Director Chris Madson, is one of the many people at MCHS who is excited for the new opportunity, and plans to use the field outside of the high School season to help our feeder teams develop players. “We will be working with the community and feeder programs on
All hail the watcher
In the first episode of Ghost Files, hosts Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej explore the infamously haunted Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville, Kentucky. | Photo courtest of Ghost Files
Paulina Borrowski Marketing Director Every episode of “Ghost Files” starts the same way: “Welcome to Ghost Files. Where we take your evidence and our tools into the field to expose the supernatural. My partner, a skeptic. Myself, a believer. Both of us, truth seekers.” With new evidence, more locations, more tools, more ghouls, but the same ghoul boys, “Ghost Files” continues. Creators Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej, founders of the YouTube channel Watcher, aired their brand-new ghosthunting series titled “Ghost Files", on Sept. 23 2022. “Ghost Files” is a YouTube series that focuses on gathering and analyzing paranormal evidence in various haunted locations to prove the
existence of the supernatural, and recently it has been gaining traction beyond hardcore fans. Formerly on “Buzzfeed Unsolved,” a show about unsolved crimes, hauntings and historical mysteries. After leaving to found their own company, Ryan and Shane came back to their ghost-hunting roots in an entirely new show. Bergara and Madej have not lost their passion for ghost hunting ever since “Ghost Files” aired. It takes all the funny gimmicks from former “Buzzfeed Unsolved” and creates something entirely new with more in-depth investigations of the paranormal at each location due to its entirely separate production on Watcher Entertainment than what Buzzfeed had to offer. The Watcher production value has The McHenry Messenger is McHenry Community High School’s student-written and -edited newspaper. Launched in 2019, The McHenry Messenger is the student-run and student-edited school newspaper at McHenry High School in McHenry, Illinois. Student journalists have the right to exercise freedom of speech and the press in high school media. The McHenry Messenger benefits from these rights. We hope to use this platform to inform and engage the students and staff of McHenry High School as well as its broader community. As an open forum for student expression, the McHenry Messenger hopes to maintain editorial independence from that which we cover while continuing to foster connections to the community.
creating a system that allows them to use the field as well, much like we do at McCracken,” said Madson. Head varsity baseball coach Brian Rockweiler, is also very excited for the field due to it benefiting all teams in the program, and is excited for the shift for on-campus games due to it being easier for the team to travel and warm up. “The most exciting part about the field is being able to play on campus. Even though we had nice crowds at Peterson Park, nothing replaces the atmosphere of playing on your high school campus,” explained Rockweiler. “Being on campus will allow also us to take pre game batting practice and offer more opportunities to practice. We will have the best playing surface in the area and wo not have to worry about bad weather or field conditions.” Rockweiler also feels the transition will be smooth to a new field, and feels that the new field is a benefit to all levels of the baseball program consisting of frosh, JV, and varsity. “The transition from Peterson Park to playing on campus should not be a difficult one. There will be some changes, but the changes will define positive,” stated Rockweiler. “The best part the whole transition is that not only do our JV and Varsity benefit from a new field, our Freshman will move to Peterson Park giving them the best Freshman field in the conference.” Rockweiler is not the only part of the
coaching staff of the varsity team who is ecstatic about the new field, assistant coach and social science teacher, Cody Freund, is enthusiastic about the field as well. “Definitely excited about the new field. I think coach Rock, coach Badgley, and myself take pictures of it and update each other any time we walk by it during the day. We are going to have the best facilities of anyone around, which is exciting for the players and our program as a whole,” Freund said. Freund also feels that the overall support from students at MCHS will increase during home games, and thinks the team will benefit from the increased support throughout the season. “I think the support we get from the student body, from the community, etc. will go up even more with the field being at school. Warrior Nation always packs the stands for our guys every game, we definitely get the most student support of any team we play, but now with it on campus I think that we're going to get even more people showing up,” stated Freund. The field’s construction marks McHenry’s jump to a new facility with the team’s aspirations this season being another state run similar to the 2021 season, and marks a new “beginning” for the program with hopes of increased support from students from now having one of the best fields not only in the FVC but the state.
Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej explore evidence from around the world to prove that the paranormal is real spared no expense to refine Ghost Files including the overall aesthetic, scene design, CGI renderings, phantom illustrations and professional equipment. The overall framing of the show gives a bit of classic “Ghostbusters” feel with the show’s graphic design and certain scenes with classic rotary phones, fan testimonials, and the set of the “boo bunker,” a homebase for the affectionately named “Ghoul boys,” Bergara and Madej. “Ghost Files” mimics a lot of other popular ghost-hunting shows like “Ghost Hunters,” “Ghost Adventures,” and “Ghost Nations.” These shows have the dynamic of a group of self-serious paranormal investigators that use ghosthunting gadgets to prove paranormal existence (though some evidence was staged for entertainment). Now that “Buzzfeed Unsolved” no longer fits this mold, it does not put the burden of entertainment on its evidence. Now, as “Ghost Files" airs on the private Watcher Entertainment production, Bergara and Madej can focus on their personalities and relationship dynamics rather than worrying about entertainment and censorship. They are allowed to say and do hilariously stupid things to the extent that are heightened by their dynamic. The eeriness of Bergara’s insight into each haunted location (and dare I say his cowardice) is constantly undermined by Shane’s unbeatable disbelief in the supernatural. Seeing the contrast in their belief toward the supernatural with Bergara’s
strong belief and Madej’s skepticism, it never fails to entertain as they air their second season of “Ghost Files”, currently. The show’s entertainment value comes from their personalities, not as much toward gathering evidence as the other ghost-hunting shows previously mentioned. It is not uncommon that in some episodes nothing supernatural happens, except for some unexplainable activity on a camera or a random whisper in someone’s ear. While other shows would archive such evidence, Bergara and Madej do not focus on evidence, so their credibility to their investigations is more true and raw if something odd happens to be captured on camera. They pride themselves on their authenticity, and never faking their evidence like other ghost hunting shows, and while this occasionally leads to episodes feeling ghost-less, it is saved by its hosts Bergara and Madej and their charming dynamic. Watcher Entertainment has truly allowed “Ghost Files” creative freedom to pursue wide innovative passions and projects. “Ghost Files” is elevated by its producers and predecessors to feel like a personal project for Bergara and Madej, and it is obvious as the show continues to air on its second season and further live tour. “Ghost Files” is arguably in its prime with its success. Skeptics and true believers can enjoy “Ghost Files” for its goofball antics blended with informative investigation as Bergara and Madej will have you deeply entertained with every episode.
Editorial Leadership
Staff Writers
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Grace Crockett, News Editor Lily Adams, Features Editor Lydia Lawrence, Opinions Editor Hunter Blake, Sports Editor Gabe Santos, Arts and Entertainment Editor
Zach Benton, Sam Bodden, Eli Frommes, Trevor Gutierrez, Ellie Henry, Lexi Januk, Elijah Latronica, Breiton Mackey, Kiera Miller, and Parker Mackellagn
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