The cashier at Wiard’s Orchards Country Store noticed a big discrepancy between the driver’s license photo and the woman in flowing black robes and a pointed hat.

“That’s what I really look like,” Paula Ashton said of the photo I.D.

The Ypsilanti resident had risen at 6 a.m. to put on her costume and get ready to host neighbor children at Lakeshore Apartments this afternoon. About a dozen guests between the ages of 3 and 12 were expected. “There’s kids over there that don’t have anybody to take them trick-or-treating, so I thought I’d throw a party,” she said.

Purchasing caramel apples and popcorn balls, Ashton was strictly a retail customer, but the Wiard’s Country Fair hosted a couple of large church groups and many other smaller parties on this blustery Halloween day. Tonight is the finale for Wiard’s Night Terrors, which features a haunted barn and such fright-filled attractions as Alien Caged Clowns and Hayrides of the Lost.

Sunday marks the end of the Country Fair season that started on Sept. 19. Besides the cider press, the fair’s most popular offerings are the corn maze and the hayrides, said orchard manager Allen Wilson.

Wilson said it has been a good apple season, but the chilly and wet October weather cut into fair attendance. “We did have two weekends where we were very happy with our crowd,” he said. “The people that did come out seemed to be very happy with everything.”

He rated tours by several school groups among the month’s highlights, as well as a couple of corporate parties.

Wiard’s inaugurated its Country Fair enterprise 25 years ago, making it one of Michigan’s first “agri-entertainment” operations, Wilson said. The orchard has been at the present location at 5565 Merritt Road since the 1940s. The original orchard, established in 1853 by George Wiard, became the site of the Willow Run plant that first made bombers and later converted to automotive parts production.

Ivan Smith said he had long heard of Wiard’s, but today’s visit was his first. He was part of a large group from the Word of God Fellowship Church in Southfield. He found himself leaving with a big box of apple cider and doughnuts.

The experience was wonderful for kids, Smith said. “They’re having a great time out here. Even some big kids are having a great time.”