DCN Reporter
Brenda Rolandson stands in her front yard, ready to work on the house. Not in the way you might think, however. Instead of paint buckets, hedge trimmers, or shingles, she’s equipped with lights and inflatable goblins.
Pumpkins have long since been a Halloween staple and its something that Rolandson finds essential in decorating her house. They can be seen lining her walkway this year.
As Rolandson works, people who are walking by call out their approval.
“Really nice!” says one passer-by.
“It’s so cute.” says another.
“That makes it all worth it right there,” says Rolandson.
It’s time for her favorite holiday of the year - Halloween - and Rolandson is ready. A 4-foot-tall Frankenstein sways in the breeze in her front lawn. A skeleton’s bones are scattered around a carriage driven by a spooky creature. Along the deck, Rolandson places knickknacks, pumpkins, and strings of Halloween lights.
Rolandson, who has worked at St. Luke’s Hospital for over 15 years, decorates for the holidays as a hobby. While many people decorate the outside of their houses for Christmas, Rolandson goes all out for Halloween.
“Halloween is probably my favorite,” says Rolandson. “I love the costumes, and I get to meet people and the parents of the kids.”
For Rolandson, it’s always a work in progress. When she sees a hole in the decorations, she fills it with a new item, spending roughly $200 each season to make it look different.
Over the last three years, she has accumulated more than enough decorations to turn heads on the street, especially drawing in trick-or-treaters on Halloween night.
“I probably got close to 70 kids last year,” says Rolandson, as she walks around the yard and props up some of the inflatables that fell over during the night.
After a combined 15 hours of decorating, Rolandson is finally finished, at least for this year. After sun goes down, she makes her way across the street to take in her work. In a long line of houses masked by darkness, one glows bright, ready for candy seekers on Halloween night.
Want a house like Rolandson's to light up your block this Halloween? Halloween DIY:
How to carve a pumpkin
Halloween decorating 101
Make your house the spookiest on the block
Your decorated house might attract a lot of people. Learn how to stay safe this halloween:
Other DCN Stories:
Raising the bridge from an old green recliner
Gardening heals the heart
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