EDITOR'S NOTE: This story initially appeared August 24 on Connect-Bridgeport. The event is still on for tomorrow and if you get a chance take part or stop by to help a good cause.

 

James Vanscoy figured he had nothing to lose. The manager of Spirit Halloween at Meadowbrook Mall was hoping to get an actor from the hit show “The Walking Dead” to make an appearance in Bridgeport at his store – the big white tent in the Mall’s parking lot.

 

At worst, he figured he would hear nothing. At best, he figured something could come from the request to actor Jeremy Ambler. And Vanscoy had a goodwill trump card – all funds raised by getting the star in question to appear locally would go to West Virginia University Children’s Hospital.

 

“I just decided to send him a message to him since he’s one of the zombie actors to see if I could get a response,” said Vanscoy. “Within two hours, me messaged me back and said he’d loved to talk about it and it just snowballed from there.”

 

The end result is the first-ever “Zombie Walk” at the Meadowbrook Mall on Sept. 20 - tomorrow. On that same day, Ambler will be at the Spirt Halloween store from noon to 8 p.m. and will actually lead the start of the walk scheduled for 8 p.m.

 

About the only thing Vanscoy would change if he could is the date; perhaps a little closer to Halloween. However, there’s a good reason for that.

 

“The only date (Ambler, who portrayed a walker in the series) was available was Saturday, Sept. 20,” said Vanscoy. “The best part is that he’s coming in for free. I thought if he could be here for a couple of hours it would be great, but he’s going to be here for eight hours.”

 

Vanscoy said Ambler will try and cover his expenses by selling autographs and other memorabilia. Even that will be a good thing as Vanscoy said 50 percent of those funds will be donated to Children’s Hospital as well.

 

The rest of the funds will be raised through the Zombie Walk. Anyone wishing to participate will pay a nominal $5 fee, which will go to Children’s Hospital.

 

According to Robin Urquhart, marketing director for the mall, the walk will start inside the mall by Target and travel the entire length of the mall down the middle hallway. Eventually, the Zombies will go toward the Elder-Beerman Home Store. There, the walkers will head back out to the front of the mall and parade toward Planet Fitness before heading back to the tent. Once back at the tent, Vanscoy said a Zombie movie will be shown on a large screen on the side of the tent.

 

The Zombie Walkers won’t be the only ones participating. Vanscoy and the Mall are encouraging the stores to get involved and form teams. Again, the cost is just $5 per person.

 

“There are nearly 100 stores so we hope to get a lot more people involved that way,” said Vanscoy. “After it’s over, we hope to create a block party atmosphere with the movie.”

 

Vanscoy said team trophies will be awarded to the best Zombies from the Mall stores. He also said there will be trophies for the best Zombies taking part in the Zombie Walk.

 

“It should be a great night,” he said.

 

For those that want to participate, but aren’t sure they can do the makeup correctly, Vanscoy said two professional makeup artists will be at the tent starting at 5 p.m. In order to utilize the makeup artists, there is $20 charge. The good news is that 100 percent of that also will go to Children’s Hospital.

 

“We’re will to try different things here at Meadowbrook Mall and James always has some creative ideas that are a lot of fun. The best part is that he does a huge fundraiser each year for Children’s Hospital.” said Urquhart. “We think it will be a good turnout.”

 

Editor's Note: All photos, including cover photo, courtesy of James Vanscoy.