Frightening fundraiser

BY ELYSE AMEND

elyse.amend@transcontinental.ca

It all started with one jack-o-lantern about 15 years ago.

For the past week and a half, brothers Brent and Brad Smitheman have been transforming the front yard of Brent’s Pointe Claire home into a spectacular – or should we say spook-tacular – display of creepy crawly critters, scary snakes, terrifying tombs, and frightening figures.

“There’s new stuff every year. We’ll find things in the stores and modify them if we need to. The collection’s been growing over the past 15 years,” Brent said of the family’s ever-expanding collection of Halloween props. For the past three years, the two 47-year-olds, who make up two-thirds of triplets, have been setting up this Halloween exhibit to both elicit screams from visitors and raise funds for seriously ill children through the Starlight Foundation. The set up usually takes about one week, with the help Brent’s two daughters and Brad’s sons.

According to Brad, Halloween is a family affair: “My oldest son Chris, who’s now 18, started getting big into Halloween when he was about seven, eight years old,” he said. “He just couldn’t wait for Halloween, and to decorate the house.”

Since Saturday, the Smithemans have been outside between about 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. welcoming eager visitors looking for a good scare, and will continue to do so until Halloween night next Wednesday. Over the past years, the attraction has definitely attracted some attention. Last year, about 700 people came to see the haunted house on Halloween alone, Brent said.

“It’s just streams of cars. And more and more come the closer we get to Halloween,” he said. “They’re just amazed of all the stuff that’s out there.”

With all of the time, money, and work that go into keeping up this annual tradition, Brent said both raising money for a great cause and seeing people’s reactions make it all worth it.

“It’s really for the kids,” he said. “When you see a little three-year-old come up the stairs with an ear-to-ear grin and eyes as big as snowflakes, it just gets your heart.”

The Smitheman’s Haunted House, located at 116 Maywood Ave., Pointe Claire, will be open from about 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. every night through Oct. 31.