Every time I hear somebody complain "There is never anything going on to do around here" I wonder where they are talking about?

Recently, I visited some very different trails, and both offered a lot of fun.

First of course, was the return of the Shawnee Living History Trail to Chief Logan State Park. People often ask me why I like the park so much. Well, it's because of things like this. Every Fall, a group gets together to make history come to life, primarily for the public, but also because they enjoy doing it.

I remember what it was like when I was a small kid, reading about American history in books. It helped me if I could visually get some kind of idea of what the period in question was like. Well, the Shawnee Trail does just that. It draws you in and lets you experience what life was like in the 18th century when Logan County West Virginia was basically Indian Territory in Virginia and was the eastern Frontier.

This year's Shawnee Trail was different and a bit bittersweet, as well. I think it was last year when I did my last interview with Ruby Souter, who was a true lover of history and a wonderful lady. Not long after we spent a great afternoon in the Cabin at the park surrounded by pioneer period food and kitchenware, this vital member of Logan's historical preservationist movement passed away.

When I arrived at the Shawnee Trail, it hit me like a hammer that Ruby would not be there, at least, not in the flesh. Walking around and talking with people, I soon found other people felt the same way. They say a prophet is never respected in their own country. Well, this was not true of Ruby Souter. As I found out, I was not the only person who heard a special interview with her on West Virginia Outlook a few months back on NPR.

I saw some familiar friends at the Shawnee Trail and, happily, I saw a few new faces. This is good news, as the Shawnee Trail Associates will be needing a lot of new blood to replace people like Ruby Souter and Ron Moxley who have gone on to the great frontier in the sky.

I had a lot of fun hanging out with friends like Charlie Mounts and June Bug Gore and talking about things like knives, guns and history, as well as woodcrafts and authors like "Nessmuk". If you enjoy any of those topics, the Shawnee Trail is something you definitely will want to experience and that you might like to get involved with.

This year, the Shawnee Trail pioneer camp was set up across the road where the sutler's tents usually are. Primarily because of work being done by another group of people on a very different.

Aaron Stone had a small army of people painting, hammering and working on what promises to be the most unusual Aracoma Story Inc. project to date, the "Trail of the Dead" which started this week.

For some time, The Aracoma Story Inc. has been producing some of the greatest 0utdoor dramas and musical comedies in our region in the summer. The folks at TAS wanted to do a fall/Halloween event and Aaron pitched them on the idea of doing an interactive Halloween event where the audience would be a part of the activity.

Aaron wrote and produced two plays on his own, and has been involved in a couple of other plays. This past summer he was the dastardly villain who shot Princess Aracoma in the back. The TAS board was familiar with him and decided to give him a chance at what will be the biggest project he ever tackled, entertainment wise. And based on the work I have seen going on behind the scenes, I think this project has a lot of potential for success. Over 200 people showed up for opening night on Wednesday.

I know for some months Aaron, Mike Picklesimer, Joe Mendez, Kevin Brown, Cody Blankenship and a LOT of other people have been working on things like make up and videos for "Trail of the Dead" project. I even ran into a guy named Dan last week I had not seen in years. He and Cody and several other folks were busy painting items for the project.

The basic concept is this. When you arrive, you will be shown a brief film explaining that something bizarre has happened and the dead have risen from their graves and are devouring the living. A small rag-tag group of volunteers have formed a sort of anti-zombie militia called The Appalachian Resistance Movement and ARM has managed to get in touch with the federal government which has a vaccine and other supplies that will be air dropped into the park.

You, the audience, have to go along with ARM to get these supplies. Unfortunately in the hills and hollows between you and them there are quite a few rotting ghouls who are roaming around and it might get messy.

"Trail of the Dead" will be running over a three week period starting this week, Oct. 15-18; Oct. 22-25 and Oct. 29-Nov. 1. In addition to television ads which have been running, there is some viral marketing going on which can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AufZRkHeDsg and http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=404329177

For more information, check the web site http://www.thearacomastory.com.

I spoke with a couple of TAS board members who said they would like to see an annual fall production around Halloween. Whether or not they are able to do this depends on the audience showing up and supporting "Trail of the Dead." Wednesdays' big crowd certainly got things going with a good start. Come on out for "Trail of the Dead" and take it from me - come early and think about picking up a flashlight at the concession's stand.