The “Witch of Ardenwood”—known to her family, friends and community as Beth—has haunted the railroad at Ardenwood Historic Farm every fall for the last 23 years. Beth Cary confides that she had to grow into the role, but as time passed she grew more comfortable, her costume has grown more grand and her presentation more elaborately amusing.
In the early years, the train rumbled past while she worked at her cauldron. In later years, the train slowed as it passed by the witch. And in recent years the train stops just beyond her vision. According to Beth, the witch that she plays detects the sweet smell of children and she utters a spell to lure the train to her spot in the haunted woods.
Her cackle dances about the trees. With five to six trains a night, she has by her side a package of cough drops—rarely used. She feels fortunate that the cackle comes quite naturally and requires no practice.
In the haunted woods, Beth treats all the passengers to a grand show in which she invites all the children for dinner, reassuring them that they themselves will not be the main dish. Standing over an immense cauldron, she proceeds to make an astounding stew, including ingredients like faux black and white mice named Salt and Pepper. She slowly drops them in by their tails to enrich the broth.
She herself loves the mice, a black mouth mamba snake that reminds her of her travels in Africa and her albino bats. A vivacious witch, she tries to add a new ingredient each year from her world travels.
Beth’s husband, Andy Cary, enjoys being married to a witch. He too has a presence on the Haunted Train. He has been a narrator, a train robber and one of the lead coordinators who made the Haunted Train the wonderful event that it is today.
Andy has also been the president, vice president, secretary and director of the Railroad Museum at Ardenwood, a nonprofit that puts on the Haunted Train as a fundraiser. Andy’s latest role is the curator for the museum’s narrow gauge railroad car collection.
Beth and Andy have a daughter who has carried on their tradition of community service. Along with the Carys’ son-in-law, their daughter has served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kyrgyztan—helping build houses while her husband taught English.
Beth and Andy also have two grandchildren of whom they are very fond. The children think it’s great fun that their grandmother is a witch. One year when Beth’s grandson was age four or five, he dressed as a bat and helped her toss the ingredients into her cauldron. It’s a treasured family memory.
As one might imagine, the Cary family has had two black cats as pets. Beth notes that black cats are as sweet as other cats, and wants to remind everyone that no one should pick on black cats at Halloween or ever.
Beth’s favorite part of being the witch are the moments when she’s able to meet the families after their journey, and take photos with the children to reassure them that she is not something they need to be afraid of.
She puts their fears at rest by pulling off her green gloves with their colorfully painted nails to expose her very human arms and hands, or by showing them the black material at the bottom of the gloves that make up her costume. She enjoys hugs from the children who know that she is safe and warm.
All of the volunteers who operate the Haunted Train at Ardenwood invite the community this year for another Halloween adventure. We don’t want to frighten anyone—we want everyone to have a good time.
