An impressive Halloween hobby in Newport

• Pee Wee Schossow

Pee Wee Schossow stands by a few of the decorations that make up the annual Halloween extravaganza at his Newport home. Bulletin photo by Jon Avise.

Talk about it

Come late October, it’s not too hard to pick out Pee Wee Schossow’s house.

It stands out the corner of Second Avenue and 20th Street in Newport, Halloween decorations not so much dotting his lawn as consuming it, and in all shapes and sizes: inflatable decorations, plastic decorations, life-size decorations that give off spooky noises – likely upwards of 100 of them, though he says he has lost count.

Over roughly 20 years, Schossow, a Minnesota Department of Transportation plow driver and volunteer Newport firefighter, has, bit-by-bit, amassed a sizable collection of Halloween decorations large and small that takes nearly a full day to put up and another full day to take down.

“I try to find something new every year,” he says. On Tuesday, he’ll be out looking for post-Halloween sales on decorations retailers are dying to unload, he says – his very own version of Black Friday, the crazed day-after-Thanksgiving shopping holiday. “Tomorrow’s my big day to go out and find things,” he says.

His Halloween hobby started two decades ago with the purchase of three 100 pound pumpkins and has picked up steam since.

“I don’t have kids. Never had kids,” he said. “This is what I do for the kids. It’s something kids enjoy.”

About 150 trick-or-treaters a year brave the haunted-looking yard to collect some loot from Schossow’s front door, he says. And they likely don’t leave disappointed – he doles out full-sized candy bars purchased from a charity that donates to Minnesota Veterans Homes.

And Schossow doesn’t quit at Halloween, he says.

“I do a Christmas decoration that’s even bigger,” he said.

Tags: lifestyle, news, newport, entertainment