Niles, MI — Joe Leach of Niles, Michigan was presented with the Lifetime Achievement award by the national organization, Haunted Attraction Association (HAA) at the TransWorld show in St Louis, Missouri, on Saturday, March 21.
Leach has been an active member of the Niles Scream Park since the early 1980s. His skills as a building contractor made him a very valuable asset. First volunteering and then taking up the job full-time, Leach has been responsible for the scares, sets and maintenance at the Niles Scream Park for 32 years.
At the end of 2014, Leach announced his retirement from the Niles Scream Park. Upon hearing this, members of the HAA Board quickly decided that he was worthy of the Lifetime Achievement Award.
The award was presented at a banquet at the America Center in St Louis, Missouri. Many of Leach’s family, fellow haunters and friends were able to attend. Leach was lauded for his talent for making “scares” out of spare parts and his skill at designing sets that could get a good reaction without resorting to blood or gore. Leach loved to be able to scare people, but he loved it even more when they would laugh afterwards.
When the Niles Haunted House was incorporated in 1988, Leach was a Board Member and served on the Board ever since. He was a founding member of the International Association of Haunted Attractions, Haunted House Association and the HAA. He has friends in the industry in just about every state.
Leach was known for his generosity to other haunters. He believed in sharing ideas freely and welcomed visitors to the Park during the off-season. He also fully supported the charitable aim of the Niles Haunted House. Over the course of the last nineteen years that he has been with the project, more than 1.4 million dollars have been donated to local and national charities, nonprofits and to scholarships for local seniors going to college.
