It’ s that time of year again! If you have driven down the main drag of Bay Village, Ohio in the month of October over the last decade, you can’ t help but notice the elaborate Halloween skeleton display in the Aschenbrener Family front yard. What started with just 2 lonely skeletons on the front porch in 2014, has blown up into something the locals look forward to every Fall. The theme changes every year, and we usually try and tie it in with current events. Past displays have included themes such as Fortnite, Covid Classroom, Cavaliers Championship, among others. Several years ago, due to my wife’s love for country music, we built a massive Zac Brown Band display. Complete with a full stage and real instruments, the display went viral on social media amassing over 500,000 views across the band’s platforms. Last year’s theme was Jimmy Buffet, paying homage to the late singer with a Margaritaville styled display complete with a functional tiki bar! Featured in local newspapers almost every year, my wife and I usually start brainstorming ideas over the summer. We are also fortunate to have a lot of friends that pitch in to help us put it all together. It’s a lot of work and a lot of money, but it’s worth it when we see how happy it makes the community. So, what did we come up with in 2024? We decided months ago that we wanted to pay tribute to the Bay High Girl’s soccer team. Our daughter Emery is a senior and a captain on the team, and after 4 years of watching many of these girls play together, the planning was a breeze. With 14 total skeletons, it is by far the most we have ever put in the yard. The details… the starting 11 in goal with local photographer “photodac” snapping their portrait. And we loved last year’s tiki bar so much that we had to recreate it with a “concession stand.” What was the most difficult part of this year’s setup? It had to be walking the full-sized soccer goal down Wolf Road while stopping traffic in both directions!
What will we come up with next year?!