This Penns Valley family makes no bones about their Halloween skeleton displays

As Penns Valley residents drive past their neighbors’ homes, they can take in all kinds of different Halloween decorations on display. None are quite like Terre Fetterolf’s.

Every October, Fetterolf and her husband design a new display of skeletons on their Millheim lawn for each day of the month, starting Oct. 1. Themes of the displays this season have included a wedding, a tribute to first responders and even a commiseration of Penn State football’s recent loss to Ohio State.

Fetterolf said she started designing the displays last fall after a friend suggested the idea. Before that, she never really committed to decorating for Halloween.

She said it usually takes her and her husband about 15 minutes to change displays each night, adding that gathering the props and putting the clothes on the skeletons takes more time than actually setting them up.

Fetterolf said the displays are only improving — she added more props for this October after seeing the community embrace the displays last fall.

“When I go to yard sales, I look for props for the skeletons,” she said.

Still, Fetterolf said coming up with ideas for new displays while trying not to repeat old ones is challenging. She’s had to come up with 62 different display ideas between this and last October, and while she tries to plan out a list of ideas ahead of time, she’s open to the suggestions she gets from friends and family. She said her 4-year-old grandson called her one night to suggest the Oct. 20 classroom-themed display after recently starting school.

“I try to go off the list, but a lot of it is dictated by the weather,” Fetterolf said. “If it’s too windy or too wet, I sometimes have to switch it up because some of the props can’t handle the weather.”

Fetterolf said she tries to orchestrate the displays to correlate with special events in October. She said she has an ongoing “Penn State Saturday” theme.

Penns Valley community members have embraced the displays, which are posted on social media each day, with open arms.

“Your display made my year,” said one Facebook comment.

“These really need to be sent somewhere nationwide,” said another.

Fetterolf said she appreciates the love, adding that she never thought the displays would mean so much to people.

“When we first started it, it was just for fun,” Fetterolf said. “I didn’t know it was going to catch on like it did, but I’m glad people enjoy it.”