View from the Center - The Durango Herald

Durango Arts Center kicks off celebration with parade, fundraiser

Join the Pozole Parade from 6 to 8:30 p.m. today (Friday). Why a parade? A parade is a public procession meant to arouse excitement and to unite with friends in celebration of a special even...

DATE: Oct 18, 2018 | CATEGORY: View from the Center

Community support helps keep DAC an artistic hub

By Jaime Wienk Special to the Herald As a homegrown Durangoan, I have experienced, participated, volunteered and worked many of the limitless festivals and activities o...

DATE: Sep 20, 2018 | CATEGORY: View from the Center

Durango celebrates, supports women in the arts

Next month is Women’s History Month, and the way our political climate is turning, it could not have come at a more opportune time. When we take into consideration the massive re...

DATE: Feb 15, 2018 | CATEGORY: View from the Center

Classes in the arts can be good for the grown-up soul

Here is my confession: I used to be very judgmental about the drink and paint adult classes that are popular around the country. You know the paint parties I’m talking about – Co...

DATE: Jan 19, 2018 | CATEGORY: View from the Center

Discovering gratitude in art – and the arts community

To my surprise, I found one of my sculptures for sale at an auction this week. It was a piece I had given as a gift to someone very special. I was delighted to see it again after so many yea...

DATE: Nov 16, 2017 | CATEGORY: View from the Center

Art a point of pride in our community

We live in an arts community. I have heard Durango is second to San Francisco in the number of restaurants we have per capita (my favorite Durango statistic). And I think we could give any w...

DATE: Oct 19, 2017 | CATEGORY: View from the Center

DAC presents exhibit highlighting relationship with Willowtail Springs

Four years ago, the Durango Arts Center formed a partnership with Willowtail Springs, an enchanting nature preserve, bed & breakfast and artist retreat located on a 40-acre parcel just west ...

DATE: Sep 29, 2017 | CATEGORY: View from the Center

Contemplating the meaning of monuments

When I read about the white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia, violently opposing the city’s plan to remove the Robert E. Lee statue, it brought me back 30 years when I lived in Rich...

DATE: Aug 17, 2017 | CATEGORY: View from the Center

Newness, challenge and love at DAC and all around us

We are plastic. Our brains are malleable and develop based on our experiences. This is not new information for me or many of you reading this, but it has been lingering in the fo...

DATE: Jun 22, 2017 | CATEGORY: View from the Center

Ready for summer, ready for camps at the DAC!

The familiar shifts in weather and river flows, and the evacuation of Fort Lewis College students from town, tell us summer must be around the corner. My own youthful memories of summertime ...

DATE: May 18, 2017 | CATEGORY: View from the Center

National Endowment for the Arts more than government agency

The obituary section in the newspaper is always a must-read for me. After reflecting on why, I recognize that it is a way to acknowledge and celebrate a life that influenced the world by hav...

DATE: Mar 18, 2017 | CATEGORY: View from the Center

The legacy of Stanton Englehart returns to Durango Arts Center

By James Durnin “Gaia is my ethic. We are all a part of her. She is the evolutionary force. Gaia is the real driver that runs our lives.” –...

DATE: Feb 17, 2017 | CATEGORY: View from the Center

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Final phases of project underway at Camino del Rio and Main Avenue

Photos: Marching for women’s rightsDurango Women’s March on Saturday starts at Buckley Park, continues down Main Avenue

Durango Women’s March on Saturday starts at Buckley Park, continues down Main Avenue

Photos: Durango High School football DHS beat Vista Ridge 20-14 at home Friday night

DHS beat Vista Ridge 20-14 at home Friday night

Gallery: Animals, super heroes and other creatures take over Main Avenue

Photos: A fun and spooky day at school

Haunted house northeast of Durango gets bigger every yearCody Petersen’s Halloween hobby is his escape from the daily grind

Durango resident Cody Petersen said when he moved into his home at 15 Edgemont Way several years ago, his house on the corner looked lonely and spooky.Today, it’s a madhouse. Halloween decorations are splayed practically on every inch of his lawn, in the trees and up and down his home.

A group of school-aged kids stop in front of his house every day to pose with a little gothic doll in the lawn, he said. It’s the favorite attraction amongst hundreds of decorations Petersen bought locally and online as early as July in preparation for Oct. 31, Halloween.He said he doesn’t want to think about how much money he’s spent on fog machines, animatronics and Christmas lights, but the bill easily totals several thousands of dollars.

For trick-or-treaters on Halloween, whom he encourages to visit, jumpscares abound at Petersen’s home, featuring animatronic spiders, growling wolves and other monsters, he said.He’s working on his own animatronic coffin, which shakes and rattles, and a pulley system that will push and pull a ghost up and down the yard, but neither will be ready for this year’s Halloween.He said he has fond memories of his parents decorating for the holidays during his upbringing and he’s a huge horror genre fan. So he enjoys going all out on decorations for the spooky season. He justifies his hobby with the logic his kids will only be in high school a few more years, and it isn’t as cool to decorate the lawn for Halloween when one doesn’t have children living at home.But the neighbors enjoy his haunts as much as the rest of the community. He said his Halloween scene has gradually grown larger every year; at least 50 trick-or-treaters turned up at his home last year.“I'm a home inspector, so I do have a lot of tools and no fear of trying things out,” he said.

He said typical Halloween animatronics cost $400 a piece, but they only last one year or so without breaking. That’s frustrating, he said, and he believes he can do better by building his own.He said this year’s display and experience is more organic than past years thanks to his handiwork. Among his myriad decorations, trick-or-treaters can spot easter eggs referencing “Beetlejuice,” “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Pet Sematary.”Among the horror props are real animal bones Petersen said he’s found on hikes across the countryside.“I've got ghosts and spiders and witches and that kind of thing,” he said. “Here in Edgemont, we have giant spiders for real. ... We get these huge wolf spiders that are bigger than my hand. I mean, huge, bigger than tarantulas.”

Petersen said he was motivated to make his first decorations within the first month he and his wife moved into the home on the corner at 15 Edgemont Way.A lone pine tree, a typical Christmas tree that would be strung up with lights and ornaments in December, stood out to Petersen in the yard, he said. He just felt compelled to decorate it and light it up.He said he thoroughly decorated the tree and left it lit year-round. Within a month of moving into the house, his neighbor died. The man was old and suffering from Alzheimer's.

Months later, the man’s wife approached Petersen and told him she and her husband’s last salient moments together were spent looking out at Petersen’s lighted Christmas tree, pretending it was Christmas. In the following hours, the man succumbed to delirium. He died several days later.“I don't know why I had that tree, why I lit it, but that's why that tree, even when Halloween is over, all year round, that Christmas tree always stays lit now,” he said.Petersen is a horror movie fan, and in particular he’s always enjoyed the sinister character Michael Myers of the “Halloween” franchise.

He said every year, after thrilling trick-or-treaters at his home, he takes to downtown and East Third Avenue in his Michael Myers costume, bearing a giant bowl of candy, to continue the fun.The highlight of his yard, the creepy doll neighborhood kids like to pose and take pictures with, is Petersen’s “elf on the shelf,” he said. He likes to move the doll around the house, sometimes propping her up to hold animal bones.“I have a real busy and pretty stressful job,” he said. “I just love the fall so much. And to come home, it's just a good way to wind down and, you know, de-stress, just go out and work in the yard.”cburney@durangoherald.com

Cody Petersen’s Halloween hobby is his escape from the daily grind

Reader-submitted photos of Halloween decorationsLast week, we asked readers to submit photos of their Halloween decorations or a neighbor’s decorations. We received dozens of photo submissions. We have selected some of the most spooky, elaborate and fun photos to share in this gallery. Enjoy!

Photos: FLC volleyball returns homeFort Lewis College volleyball took on Adams State University on Tuesday

Fort Lewis College volleyball took on Adams State University on Tuesday

Photos: Expert leathercrafter and collector estate sale near IgnacioItems belonging to the late Alex Pappas were auctioned for sale on Saturday

Items belonging to the late Alex Pappas were auctioned for sale on Saturday

Photos: Pro boxing in DurangoLegends on the Animas boxing showdown took place on Saturday

Legends on the Animas boxing showdown took place on Saturday

Durango Arts Center kicks off celebration with parade, fundraiser

Community support helps keep DAC an artistic hub

Durango celebrates, supports women in the arts

Classes in the arts can be good for the grown-up soul

Discovering gratitude in art – and the arts community

Art a point of pride in our community

DAC presents exhibit highlighting relationship with Willowtail Springs

Contemplating the meaning of monuments

Newness, challenge and love at DAC and all around us

Ready for summer, ready for camps at the DAC!

National Endowment for the Arts more than government agency

The legacy of Stanton Englehart returns to Durango Arts Center

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