CASCO – For family members of soldiers deployed from the 133rd Battalion of the Maine National Guard, Camp Sunshine will host a weekend retreat, The Witches and Wizards, Ghosts and Goblins Halloween Weekend, from Oct. 29 to Oct. 31. The camp staff has planned a weekend of hay rides, bonfires, indoor pool activities, climbing wall and a costume party.

Partnership with the 133rd Engineering Battalion began in 1992 during the guard’s two weeks of summer training, when the soldiers bivouacked the grounds of what would become the permanent Camp Sunshine Campus. In addition to clearing and grading the property, the soldiers constructed roads, drainage and buildings to support the camp’s expansion. The battalion returned in the late ’90s to build a bridge across a small pond that could even support the guard’s heavy equipment.

For the soldiers of the 133rd, this experience began as a training operation but soon evolved into a mission of caring and support. In appreciation of their past steadfast and exemplary efforts, and now in honor of their men and women serving in Iraq, Camp Sunshine is proud to host the families of the 133rd Battalion of the Maine National Guard for this special Halloween weekend.

There is no cost for the families to attend this retreat. Funding is being supported by The Maine State Troopers Foundation, Unum Provident and Smith Tobey Post 21.

For more information about The Witches and Wizards, Ghosts and Goblins Halloween Weekend, call Camp Sunshine at 655-3800. To receive an application, contact Linda Newbegin, Maine Army National Guard Family Readiness Volunteer, at 642-6977.