NEWBURY, Vt. (WCAX) – As spooky season reaches full swing, one family in Newbury goes the extra mile when it comes to decorating.
One house on Halls Lake Rd. in Newbury stands out in particular – Dante Sargent’s.
Halloween is his favorite holiday, and his family has been going all out for about 10 years.
They start decorating in early September, and this year’s display took five days to set up.
“We just started setting up one year and me and the kids keep coming up with bigger ideas and it keeps growing,” Sargent said.
The decorations come from all over: department stores, novelty shops, family friends and good old-fashioned arts and crafts.
“We found scuba Steve at Lowe’s and the rest of it just kind of came as we started setting it up and spray painting stuff,” Sargent said.
The Sargents use anything they can find to set up scenes; they have a funeral, a circus, a zombie wall and a pirate ship.
The Sargent’s own about 120 skeletons, but only Melvin has a name.
The real magic happens at night, when the decorations light up.
One morning, Sargent woke up to find a 20 dollar bill and a thank you note left by someone passing by.
“It’s just something we do, listen to people drive by. The kids that stop in cars laugh at it, not a lot of trick-or-treaters, more spectators,” Sargent said.
No two Halloweens are alike for the Sargent family, and their neighbors have come to expect something extraordinary every year.