Indiana Family Ends Giant Jack-O-Lantern Display After Nearly 20 Years
CHICAGO (CBS) -- For years, the front yard of an Indiana home has been a Halloween hot spot, but not this year.
It was 1999 when John Barenie picked up a new hobby.
"I started to grow giant pumpkins," he said.
Barenie was pretty good at it, and impressed his family with his giant gourds.
"My sister Judith came up with the idea to kind of do a theme display," he said.
That idea grew into a Halloween tradition. Barenie filled his yard in Griffith with giant jack-o-lanterns, with a new theme for the carved pumpkins each year.
"The Charlie Brown "Peanuts" characters in '99," he said.
There won't be a theme this year, as Barenie is getting out of the illuminated pumpkin business; just a dozen uncarved pumpkins and a sign that reads "SORRY – NO PUMPKIN DISPLAY THIS YEAR THANKS FOR YOUR YEARS OF SUPPORT!"
"The last few years it got harder and harder to do it," Barenie said.
It wasn't an easy decision, but Barenie said he's proud of what the tradition meant to the community.
"That was the payback for us, that people just enjoyed it," he said.
