Spooky spirits on display

Halloween is still a week away, but several homes and businesses in Newcastle are already “dressed up” and ready for the big day.

“(Halloween has) brought communities together over generations,” said Newcastle resident Crystal Sikes, explaining why she is a big fan of
the holiday.

Sikes and others in town have shown their spooky season spirit by going above and beyond in putting together displays this year. Sikes’ house on South Summit Avenue is festooned with all manner of
macabre ornaments, from cobwebs
to skeletons.

“Since I was little, we’ve always decorated the house. Growing up, I watched my mom do it, and I watched her mom, my grandmother, do it,” Sikes said.

Now, Sikes carries on the popular tradition for the benefit of her own daughter, Ava, who Sikes hopes continues the practice when she becomes an adult.

On the other side of town, McKinzie and Jewel Parrish have also enthusiastically embraced the season. Unlike Sikes’, their display, which features beloved animated characters such as Scooby-Doo and Stitch from “Lilo and Stitch,” is a bit less ghastly.

“Because we live next to Dow Park, we wanted to make it as family-friendly as possible,” McKinzie said.

She and her wife, Jewel, moved into their current home last year. With the move, they both decided that Halloween would be “their big holiday.” This decision was motivated by the couple’s children, who are fans of “spooky stuff.”

Houses are not the only locations adorned for the season. Hometown Medical Clinic on Main Street is one business whose display window has been gussied up for Halloween.

When putting together the yearly display, Hometown Medical Clinic owner and practitioner Ashley Tupper is perhaps more purposeful than one might guess.

Tupper aims for her clinic to live up to its name by providing “patients and families (a hometown) feel.”

“I want families to think back to when they would walk by our windows for the holidays and stop and look at the decorations and get excited for a season or holiday,” she said.

Just as with Sikes and the Parrishes, decorating for Halloween is a family affair for Tupper. She and her mother “find joy in decorating for all the seasons/holidays,” and to her delight, her children are now involved too.

One might be a little surprised to learn the location of what is likely the most elaborate Halloween display in town. This impressive exhibit can be found in front of the Newcastle Police Department.

This menagerie of skeletons was a joint effort between the police department and the Weston County Dispatch Center.

According to a press release, NPD Sgt. Nick Kaminski “cut large wooden tombstones and gave them a coat of gray paint.” The dispatchers then took on the task of painting the tombstones and bringing decorations to round out the display; some of these items were purchased by the dispatchers with their own money. Then police department staff, along with a few additional volunteers, assisted the dispatchers in assembling the lively display.

The decorations not only make for a more festive holiday but also serve a more noble purpose. Included with the grim trappings is a sign with a QR code, which allows passersby to donate to the Skeletons for St. Jude fundraiser, an effort dedicated to childhood cancer research.

Despite setbacks involving “the good old Wyoming wind,” thieving wildlife and a lack of exterior electrical outlets for lighting, dispatch center supervisor Tonia Mills expressed what motivated everyone to continue.

“When we have parents tell us how excited their kids are when they drive by and we know we are helping fight juvenile cancer and other diseases, it makes it all worthwhile,” she said.

Scaring cancer away

As stated by the organization, the nationwide Skeletons for St. Jude fundraiser “originated in Holly Springs, NC in 2002 with the Robertson family placing a St. Jude fund-raising sign in their yard after a local TV station aired their skeleton Halloween display.” Motivated by the considerable amount of donations made, the Robertsons made Skeletons for St. Jude into a yearly event. In a few short years, “close to 1,000 homes throughout the US” had joined the cause by creating their own Halloween displays featuring the appeal for donations and QR code. The St. Jude fundraiser aims to reach $1 million in donations by 2025.