Pine River Times Opinion - The Durango Herald

Marijuana sales could affect local youth, prevention programs needed

Editor's note: this is a copy of a letter submitted to the Bayfield Town Board. Culture is often described as the norms and beliefs that a group decides to live by. Balance b...

DATE: Jan 22, 2018 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Will the center hold for LPEA?

By Tom Givon The recent LPEA elections bring to mind four memorable lines from W.B. Yeats' poem, The Second Coming, from 1920: "Things fall apart, the center doesn't ...

DATE: Jul 2, 2015 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Support Our Streets organizing in Bayfield

Bayfield residents have another chance in November to vote on whether a 1-percent sales tax will be added to their purchases made in town and to all others who make purchases. This tax will...

DATE: Jun 25, 2015 | CATEGORY: Opinion

BAAM thanks Bayberry Jam supporters

Bayfield Association for the Advancement of Music would like to thank the Bayfield community for a great turnout and support for our 3rd annual Bayberry Jam Music Festival on June 20. ...

DATE: Jun 25, 2015 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Music teacher moving on to foundation

Please allow me to sincerely express my gratitude and love for the shared opportunities in positive, constructive, and nurturing partnerships towards the appreciation of a prosperous musical...

DATE: Jun 18, 2015 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Brown focusing on water, transportation, state properties

Issues that I focused on during the 2015 Legislative session - water, transportation, and the upkeep of state property - will continue to be priorities as we prepare this summer for the next...

DATE: Jun 18, 2015 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Brown urges Sen. Bennet to support harvest of dead trees

To U.S. Senator Michael Bennet: There are places in my House District where over 90 percent of the trees on federal land are dead. This has created the potential for a fire crisis...

DATE: Jun 12, 2015 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Wolfwood Refuge thanks casino, tribe

WolfWood Refuge would like to thank the Sky Ute Casino and Southern Ute Tribe for allowing us to participate in this year's Money Booth for Non-Profit Organizations. Your generos...

DATE: Jun 12, 2015 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Rain, rain, it's OK (We hope)

Speaking of rain.... I feel like I'm caught in an endless loop of that Johnny Cash song "Five feet high and rising" where he sings "Looks like we'll be blessed with a little more ...

DATE: Jun 12, 2015 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Ignacio Booster Club thanks donors

Ignacio Athletic Booster Club would like to thank the following businesses for their support with this year's Athletic Banquet. They are Ignacio Floral & Gifts, Walker's Do It ...

DATE: Jun 4, 2015 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Let's all swap our stuff on Yard Sale Day

Saturday is the big day here in Bayfield. No, it's not the 4th of July yet, it's Yard Sale Day. Either you're a bargain hunter out to find a forgotten Picasso, or a neat freak who...

DATE: Jun 4, 2015 | CATEGORY: Opinion

BAAM seeks support for school music

BAAM (Bayfield Association for the Advancement of Music) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide funds for the advancement of music for Bayfield music students. We are run ...

DATE: May 28, 2015 | CATEGORY: Opinion

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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

Marijuana sales could affect local youth, prevention programs needed

Will the center hold for LPEA?

Support Our Streets organizing in Bayfield

BAAM thanks Bayberry Jam supporters

Music teacher moving on to foundation

Brown focusing on water, transportation, state properties

Brown urges Sen. Bennet to support harvest of dead trees

Wolfwood Refuge thanks casino, tribe

Rain, rain, it's OK (We hope)

Ignacio Booster Club thanks donors

Let's all swap our stuff on Yard Sale Day

BAAM seeks support for school music

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