Written By Jan Sims
ILDERTON - The spooky season has come and gone, but the bragging rights live on for the winners of the Halloween decorating contest sponsored by the Ilderton Area Business Association.
Some 15 houses in Ilderton were in contention. Thanya Romero began working on her winning entry on Martin Drive a month before October 31st. “This year we went with a skeleton and witches theme, we had a 12 foot mummy skeleton that was lit and animated, a 12 foot flying witch that was also animated, a 12 foot skeleton that was breaking through the roof of the house with his legs and feet stuck in the porch, a saber tooth tiger, gargoyles, smaller skeletons, a giant spider, a coffin, a witch on a rocking chair, grim reaper from another peak floating around with Georgy looking in at the yard from the street,” says Romero.
David Karachun’s home on Mossy Wood Walk was decked out with skeletons, gravestones, and a giant spider. A witch standing over a cauldron with mist pouring out of it, was positioned at the front door.
Karachun says it doesn’t take a great deal of time to set up the display, but he does the project in stages. “There’s really no game plan. It’s more just make it fun, and hope the kids like it when they get to the door,” says Karachun. As for the reaction by trick or treaters, “the kids loved it.”
Romero says her neighbours are always intrigued by her creativity, and so is her family. “I do it for my daughter, she loves decorating for Halloween and she always wants to go bigger and better and she told me I needed to go bigger this year, and we did,” says Romero.
As for what the judges saw among the contestants: “Lots of different themes and activities in the entries some were very scary to some being very light hearted and cute houses and decorations, but the theme for scary seems to have been the winners,” says Stasia Kosar with the Ilderton Area Business Association.
For his part Karachun, enjoys the creativity that goes into planning the display. “My daughter was born the day after Halloween, so it’s always been a big thing,” says Karachun.
