Keith and Mel Pettigrew have been making Halloween displays for their front lawn for five years, but this year’s addition, a six-foot mummy, walked off before they could share it with the community.
The Pettigrew family spent two months working on the hand-crafted mummy, which was installed into their extensive front lawn display on Oct. 19, only to wake up on Oct. 21 to find it missing from their Morningside residence.
“When I go to so much effort, it’s disappointing that someone would take away from everyone else, and the joy they get from it,” said Mel Pettigrew. “Giving back to the community is what we are trying to teach our kids, not going around hurting other people.”
More than 90 per cent of the family’s display is handcrafted, with custom tombstones and genuine barn-wood crafted coffins, as well as a 100-year-old scythe in the hands of the Grim Reaper. The family hands out cups of hot chocolate for parents and children, popcorn and cookies as well on Halloween night.
Over the five years of building this display, the Pettigrew’s have invested nearly $10,000 - $2,000 each year – to make their display special. Losing two months of work on the mummy is disappointing, according to Keith.
“It’s not about the money factor, it’s the time factor and how much effort we put in,” he said.
The Pettigrews contacted local police, but said they were told there wasn’t anything that could be done. The couple understands the RCMP’s resources are better focused elsewhere.
“It’s not a violent crime,” said Mel. “I don’t want to be frustrated with the police, because their services are invaluable. You feel petty calling in saying, ‘someone stole my mummy.’”
As the years go on, it seems more and more homes are turning off their lights and letting Halloween night go to the wayside, according to the Pettigrews, but they feel the evening is not just about handing out candy to children, but allowing neighbourhoods to open their doors.
“A lot of people don’t do it anymore. They are stepping back. They turn out their lights and don’t even give out candy,” said Mel. “Growing up, this was a way for you to bond with your community. Parents are taking their kids out and stopping, which gives you a moment to talk.”
Pettigrew agreed with his wife, and said last year he gave out more than 100 cups of hot chocolate to parents, and even had a visit from an entire South Asian family.
“They don’t do Halloween. (They) came by and took pictures with us. It was the grandfather all the way down to the kids came by,” he said.
Now that Halloween is over, and the evening was another success, even without the mummy, Mel is urging whoever stole it, or anyone who knows anything about the theft, to come forward.
“Feel free to return it. I have no problem, I will store it for them for the winter,” she joked.
