Most families spend their final days of summer planning trips to the lake, barbecues, or enjoying the warm weather, but that's not the case for both the Plemmons and Virella families. These families begin planning their outdoor Halloween decorations.
Debbie Plemmons, of Marshfield, has been decorating her lawn with ghouls and skeletons for years and it all started with a little friendly competition.
“We love Halloween. It started with a challenge from our old neighbors, but we had so much fun watching the kids, it grew from there” said Plemmons. “ We try to keep it kid friendly, too.”
The Plemmons' Halloween display on Brookside Drive attracted over 600 trick or treaters in 2020. This year, the family plans for 800 or more.
“We start the last week in September and it’s about a week of filling candy bags. We also try to add a new prop every year. We have built a few and bought a few, but we probably will have to stop adding soon. We have run out of yard,” laughed Plemmons.
In addition to the decor, the entire Plemmons family dress up and screen a festive movie on Halloween. Last year they screened Hocus Pocus. This year the film is Michael Myers’ Halloween. Plemmons and her family enjoy these festivities as much as their visitors do.
“Adults seem to like it as much as the kids. It’s just nice, especially nowadays, to see everyone come out and have a good time,” said Plemmons.
The Virella family also put on a large Halloween display, so large in fact that they begin planning in July. Cheri and Bill Virella, of Marshfield, moved to their home on Elm Street in 2016, where they began to share their love for Halloween.
“My family is really big into the holidays. It’s something that carries from my childhood. We started decorating here and the community really loved it,” said Cheri Virella.
Since then, they have added more props and decorations to their display. Many of which are handmade and created just for Halloween.
The display includes both circus and classic halloween themes, but this year is the first that includes a light show. The light show is accompanied by music from the local radio station 106.9 FM.
“The radio station is synched with a large trio of electric jack o'lantern faces that sing… There is a 45 minute soundtrack that includes anything from Taylor Swift, Ghostbusters, Thriller, and more” explained Virella. The show plays 7pm-1am every night, weather permitted.
The Virellas receive many guests prior to Halloween. A line of vehicles can be seen inching their way down Elm Street to see the show.
“It makes us so happy to see that. We don’t do it for the congratulations, we do it for the community… We get lots of people driving by honking, waving, and thanking us,” said Virella.
They also welcome a hoard of trick or treaters on Halloween.
“The first year we just did bags of candy and didn’t count, but in 2019, we decided to switch over to giant pixie sticks. Those fit our circus theme and we were able to count how many kids came to the house. The first year we handed out 1,171 pixie sticks. Last year it was 1,821,” said Virella.
The Virellas say their entire dining room is packed full of candy and that they are hoping to surpass 2,000 trick or treaters this year. The family welcomes all trick or treaters, big or small, to grab a piece of candy and enjoy the show.
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