TOWN OF LOCKPORT — The Hall Apple Farm is hosting a free Halloween Festival today and Friday, with a spotlight on raising donations for the Salvation Army.

“This is the first time we’ve ever held anything like this,” said Adam Updegraph, nephew of the farm’s owner, Robert Hall. “We wanted to have the festival, but also do something for charity — do a little more this year.

“My uncle and my grandparents have worked closely with the Salvation Army through the years, so we thought we’d hold this free festival, but ask people for donations of money or canned goods for the Salvation Army’s food pantry.”

The event runs from 4 to 8 p. m. both days at the farm, 6100 Ruhlmann Road.

The festival will feature free doughnuts, apples and cider for children; a haunted house and haunted maze; a costume contest with prizes; and face-painting.

“And we’ll set up some hay bales for the children to sit on and my father, George Updegraph, will tell ghost stories,” Adam Updegraph said. The senior Updegraph is known for the popular haunted candlelight tours of the Van Horn Mansion in Burt. He helps conduct them at this time of year to benefit the Newfane Historical Society.

“There really is a need here,” Adam Updegraph said. “I was recently at the Salvation Army in Lockport to set things up for this, and you see young couples in there with children who don’t have a place to stay. The Salvation Army helps them get them back on their feet again. Hopefully, we can make a little dent with this.”

Maj. John Wheeler, commanding officer of the Salvation Army in Lockport, said he “absolutely loves” the idea of the event.

“We appreciate all of the support we can get,” Wheeler said. “Our soup kitchen feeds 150 people lunch each day, and we also run a food pantry [and] a comprehensive social services office, which helps guide people’s thinking and improve their lives.

“We have our church with worship activities and ministries and our after-school and teen recreation group.”

Not surprisingly, Wheeler said, the challenges of the current economy have put added pressure on his agency.

“All of our numbers are up a bit,” he said. “We appreciate the big donations, but we really function on the little donations.”

For information, contact the Hall Apple Farm at 434-0838.