The folks at the First Friday Art Trail may have some explaining to do. Apparently, some actors from 'Nightmare on 19th Street' were asked to leave by a rep from the FFAT...and a Lubbock Police officer.

I first heard about this when a friend of mine who was visiting from Dallas called me Friday evening and asked if my radio station has anything to do with the 'spook house' on 19th street. I told her that we give away tickets for it every Halloween and that it was a cool place.

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My friend went on to say that some of the actors from the 'spook house' had been kicked out of the First Friday Art Trail and she wanted to know why...'they were nice kids'.

I honestly didn't have any answers for her...until this morning when I read an article by Wes Nessman. (For reasons of full disclosure, Wes is one of the owners of Nightmare on 19th Street)

According to Wes and others who were there, the actors (who are all 18 or older, by the way) were first asked to leave the Buddy Holly Center and told 'maybe we can have you back for an event that's a better fit for you guys.' All well and good. The actors left and nobody was really upset.

That all changed when they arrived at the Icehouse at 511 Avenue J. Not only did a rep for the FFAT kick them out, but she got a police officer involved who told them that during the FFAT the streets were considered private property. They were also told that the closest they could be to the event was at the AJ building...two blocks away. What???

I'm not going to get into the reasons that's not right since we ALL pay taxes for the use of those streets. That's not the point really. The point is that these actors are walking pieces of art. They are everything that the FFAT is supposed to be about!

The incredible talent of the makeup artists that get these actors into costume is something to behold. The actors themselves are fantastic too. It's 'art' if there ever was art.

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The reason this really irks me is because I personally know several of these kids. They're GREAT kids who throw everything they've got into the characters they play each year at Nightmare on 19th Street. I see them posting on Facebook about creative new ideas for Nightmare ALL YEAR LONG! To some of these kids, Nightmare is everything to them and they're extremely proud of their work...as they should be! To kick them off the 'art trail' is a disgrace. Plain and simple.

I should point out that Wes was a little more 'irked' than I was when I heard this news, but that's understandable. He treats those kids like his own and they all look up to him. And he's a good role model, something that any kid could use. (All the kids call him 'pops', by the way.)

I hope the kids from Nightmare don't get too discouraged by the events of last Friday. I hope they know that many Lubbockites...myself included...truly appreciate their form of art and can't wait for another year of being scared to death at the Nightmare on 19th Street.

Stay tuned to win your FREE tickets on the Kool Morning Show and right here on the website. I'm going to promote it like CRAZY...for the kids, of course.

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