Joel and Tiffany Schmidt love Halloween. A lot.
So much so that, for the past six years, they have transformed their front yard at 1911 W. 10th Ave. in Sault Ste. Marie into a scary, walk-through, graveyard filled with animated, robotic displays and stationary items. Sometimes, there are real humans hidden inside adding to the frightening flavor of the Schmidt's Graveyard.
"We love the kids having something to do in this town and community. We love sitting out here listening to them as they walk through the graveyard," Tiffany said.
Even before their current setup, they had a Halloween display just down the road at their previous house.
"We started accepting donations of canned dog food to give to the animal shelter. Then people started handing us money so we put out a donation jar," Tiffany said.
Since the first display 20 years ago, the graveyard has only grown. And so have the number of people willing to help out.
"We turned it into a fundraiser for Hospice House of the EUP and the Chippewa Co. Animal Shelter. My dad was a part of the Hospice House before he passed away. The most we made in one October in the six years we have been here was around $1,000, which was split between the two," Joel said.
The self-guided walk-through is open through Halloween weekdays until 9 p.m. On weekends, until 10:30 p.m. There is free candy available.
The Schmidt's remind people that the graveyard is open weather-permitting and not to walk through after they turn off the lights because alarms will sound. They also emphasize that attendees please respect the props and do not touch them.
They also remind people to drive slow down 10th Ave as the neighborhood is dark.
The cost for the Schmidt's to operate the display is not cheap. Between batteries for some displays, electricity for others and the actual cost of the props themselves, it is costly to provide this entertainment. Tiffany does have Venmo (the QR code is in the picture slide-show above) if anyone would like to contribute to help defray the cost or donate to the animal shelter or hospice house.
