Glen Peters loves Halloween and so does his daughter Samantha, 18. The Peters’, along with Glen’s wife Suzie, have gone out of their way to make Halloween special and memorable for kids in their Maple Drive neighbourhood. The Peters’ spend a lot of time, money and effort to decorate their home and property with ghoulish and scary props. (Keith Lacey photo)
It takes a lot of time, money and effort, but the Peters family from Osoyoos says it’s all worth it when they see the smiles on the faces of the dozens of children – and their parents – who visit their home Halloween night.
For the past eight years, the Peters’ property at the end of Maple Drive in the east end of Osoyoos has been decorated from top to bottom with spooky Halloween characters, haunted houses, cemetery stones and various ghosts, ghouls and goblins.
All of the hard work has paid off as they traditionally get close to 100 local kids and their parents to visit them Halloween night.
“It’s an awful lot of work to get this together for one night of fun, but I have always loved Halloween,” said Glen Peters, who gets a lot of support and assistance from his daughter Samantha, 18, and his wife Suzie.
They used to decorate their yard when they rented a home in Osoyoos, dating back a decade or so, but made things much more elaborate – and scary – since purchasing their home on Maple Drive eight years ago.
Not only is the entire yard decorated with a scary Halloween theme, but also they have close to 150 carved pumpkins lining their property leading to the main roadway so the neighbourhood kids have an easy time reaching their property.
They also hand out plenty of candy, dress up in their own scary outfits and then, to top things off at the end of Halloween night, Glen fires off some fireworks to make the night even more memorable.
Samantha not only supports her dad in making Halloween a special night for the neighbourhood kids, but also helps him build the many props they use.
“Halloween is my favourite holiday and I had very good memories growing up enjoying everything my parents did in fixing up the yard and I wanted to help out when I got a little older,” she said. “I’m actually the idea person now and come up with new ideas and then help my dad build all the props we need.”
It takes about two weeks to set up all of the props, masks and equipment they spread out across their property, said Glen.
It’s also extremely busy in the hours before the kids start trick or treating as he has to set up all the lights and distribute the rows of carved pumpkins leading to his house.
The Peters’ invite dozens of neighbours to attend their annual Halloween bash and most accept, he said.
“We invite all of the neighbours, have a big spread of food for them and try and make it a really fun night,” he said. “Just seeing the looks on the faces of the kids makes all of the work and effort more than worth it.
“Halloween is especially fun for kids, but a lot of the parents have just as much fun and really get into the spirit of things.”
Last year, Peters said he was all dressed up in a Halloween outfit and was hiding inside an old car, when a woman peaked inside the window.
“I grabbed her by the arm and she let out a scream I think the whole town could hear,” he said smiling. “She said I scared the living daylights out of her. That’s exactly what I wanted to do.
“Halloween is about getting scared, but having a lot of fun getting scared.”
Peters said he and his family plan on decorating their home and property and expanding their impressive Halloween display for years to come.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
Glen Peters loves Halloween and so does his daughter Samantha, 18. The Peters’, along with Glen’s wife Suzie, have gone out of their way to make Halloween special and memorable for kids in their Maple Drive neighbourhood. The Peters’ spend a lot of time, money and effort to decorate their home and property with ghoulish and scary props.
