Truro, Colchester County residents transform yards for Halloween

Wendy Wiswell is going all out for her first Halloween living in Great Village.

“Who doesn’t love Halloween?” said Wiswell, standing in her front yard on Great Village Lornevale Road.

Far from just a few pumpkins on the porch, her front yard display features decorations of all shapes, sizes, and scenes.

From movie and pop culture references to 12-foot-tall skeletons, there’s something to see in almost every corner.

Across Colchester County, residents like Wiswell are getting into the Halloween spirit with their yard displays.

Wiswell said she did an annual Halloween display at her home in Dartmouth. She wanted to carry on the tradition at their new place in Great Village. She began setting up her display in September.

“We put one or two things out every day until it’s complete,” said Wiswell. “We had so much stuff. We just didn’t know what was going where, so we started early, middle of September, just to pique some interest.”

Winsell said it takes about two hours, at most, to set up each morning. She also switches up where she places her decor to keep people engaged.

“The kids on the bus are the most excited,” she said. “They’re like, ‘Uh, well, where’s that gone?’ Or something will be put away, and we’ll bring it out a few days later.”

Winsell said her favourite part about Halloween is setting up the display with family. She has gathered and built lots of decorations over the years.

“And we’re not done,” said Winsell. “So next year, now that we know where everything fits, we’ll probably add about 10 more.”

Meanwhile, in Truro, a home at the top of Crowell Drive is also known for its festive yard displays.

Michael Lavers estimates he’s been putting up inflatables in his yard for Halloween for 13 or 14 years now. The display is inspired by his son Isaiah’s love for inflatables and Halloween.

“His birthday is in October, and every year we add more and more at his birthday,” said Lavers.

There are currently 65 inflatables set up in and around their yard right now and counting. They range from classic pumpkins and ghosts to animated characters from movies.

The house has lots of pedestrian and car traffic given that it’s across from the Truro Elementary School. The family will turn on the inflatables in the morning so that the kids can see them as they’re walking to school.

“That’s our main audience, basically,” said Lavers. “They definitely are loving it, and they’ll come up and tell me and you know, all of us for that matter.”

Lavers estimates the house annually gets roughly 300 to 400 trick-or-treaters.

“When you have (these) kind of decorations, you can’t give out little candies,” said Lavers, “so, we’ve always given full-size bars.”

Lavers said his favourite part of setting up the Halloween display probably starts with Isaiah’s reaction and how much he likes it.

“He comes out and we’ll say, supervises, ’cause he doesn’t do any of the work involved,” Lavers said with a chuckle, “but … Isaiah certainly does enjoy a lot of the inflatables.”

He adds that the display is a family tradition with all their kids.

“They’ve all participated in this, and it’s been a family thing every year,” said Lavers.