Hazel Park

Conquer your fears for a brighter future

By Andy Kozlowski
C & G Staff Writer

HAZEL PARK — It’s not that nobody likes you, everybody hates you and you might as well eat worms.

It’s that eating worms — gummy worms out of a pie tin, that is — can help raise money to send Hazel Park High grads to college as part of the Promise Zone.

It’s all part of Fear Factor, not the TV show but Hazel Park’s take on the concept of conquering the sort of stuff that makes most people pale with horror.

The event takes place at the Hazel Park Recreation Center, 620 W. Woodward Heights, at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 19.

Now make no mistake: There will definitely be real, live creepy-crawlers there. But you won’t be eating them, said Amy Strick of Hazel Park, one of the organizers.

Rather, you’ll plunge your hands into heaps of writhing worms in one tank and icky crickets in another, trying to retrieve as many flags as you can within the time limit.

Thus, there will be no bugs killed, and no bad aftertaste in your mouth — though you may wish to wash your hands afterward.

That’s just one of the contests, though. Others include a race to see how many dog biscuits you can carry in your mouth and drop off in a bowl before time is up, or racing against the clock to pluck gummy worms out of a whipped cream pie, or sardines and anchovies for the older set, not eating them until the end to avoid choking hazards.

Fear Factor is open to everyone ages 5-18. Currently, the plan is that for each contest, there will be three divisions based on age group — 5-8, 9-12 and 13-18 — and within each division, color-coded teams of five people each. There will be prizes, which at press time were still being determined.

Tickets will be available at the door for $8 a person or a flat rate of $12 if there are three or more contestants in a family. There will also be food and beverages to purchase for spectators who want to cheer from the sidelines. Contestants get pizza and pop with their ticket purchase.

Proceeds benefit the Hazel Park Promise Zone Authority, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Starting with the Class of 2012, all students who graduate from Hazel Park High and who live in the Hazel Park school district are eligible for two-year college scholarships, up to $4,000 a year, for the equivalent of an associate degree from Oakland Community College. Once in college, they renew the scholarship each semester and must maintain a minimum 2.5 GPA.

This isn’t the first time this kind of event has appeared in Hazel Park. Strick used to be director of a latchkey program for school-age kids in Hazel Park and originally introduced the games during a field day event.

“We tried it (Fear Factor), and the kids loved it,” Strick said. “And when it came to Fall Fest for Neighborhood Enrichment last year, I asked if I could put this together for the kids, and it ended up being a big success.

“The kids were completely excited,” she said. “They couldn’t wait to do it and get it done; they’re bouncing off the walls as they’re sitting still. And the spectators might throw out some gross comments to try and gross the contestant out.”

Strick’s mother, Hazel Park Mayor Pro Tem Jan Parisi, said they’re currently looking for donations from local pizza places for the food and refreshments. They’re also working with small businesses to secure the necessary ingredients for the games: worms, crickets, even snake skin.

“We’re still looking for some other creepy things, like a pig’s head, to kind of set up the atmosphere,” Parisi said.

She added that events like Fear Factor and last year’s Pub Crawl are not only fun and good for business, but also vital to the kids’ futures.

“A lot of these people felt they couldn’t afford college, like they had fallen through the cracks, unable to qualify for help, or their parents hadn’t been able to set aside money,” Parisi said. “This is an opportunity to go to college; there’s no excuse now not to go to college. I think it will encourage kids to do better in school and to have a goal.

“Right now, as we speak, more and more kids are signing up for college,” she said. “And that will help the community in other ways, too; we will send those kids to college, and then, we can use their resources at some point in the future to help Hazel Park, too.

“It’s just wonderful,” Parisi concluded. “I think that’s our job for our community. We have the passion and the heart.”

Hazel Park’s Fear Factor will take place at the Hazel Park Recreation Center, 620 W. Woodward Heights, at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 19. Tickets will be available at the door for $8 a person or a flat rate of $12 if there are three or more contestants in a family.

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Andy Kozlowski at akozlowski@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1104.