By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Megan Pease is bringing a bit of magic to her neighborhood this year with a glowing Halloween display that features 90 hand-carved jack-o’-lanterns.
This sight to behold is found on C Street, a small north-and-south roadway near Sinnissippi Park.
“Not a lot of people know that this is here,” said Pease, a biology professor at Rock Valley College. “Every city has secret places that, if you live in the city you know, you go there and there’s going to be awesome great stuff.
“I like that this is like that for some people.”
Pease and her husband, Bryan Biehl, have been making the display at their home for a few years now. Typically they’ll put out about 70 jack-o’-lanterns, with Biehl gutting the pumpkins and Pease carving out the ephemeral art.
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This year features 90 pumpkins with 101 faces as some pumpkins have multiple designs. Pease carved almost all the pumpkins herself. Her husband handled a couple, and nearby neighbors contributed a few jack-o’-lanterns, too. Luminaries also line the driveway.
The display includes pumpkins on the ground, chained to trees, impaled on poles and strung to tree branches to create a floating effect.
Pease said she was inspired after visiting the Louisville Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular, which features more than 5,000 illuminated pumpkins on a half-mile trail.
“It was so magical. I wanted to bring some of that magic back and share it with other people,” Pease said. “It brings out an inner child in people.”
Pease’s favorite design this year is a pair of dueling faces carved into one log-like dark green pumpkin near the front sidewalk.
The designs are all original, but it’s not uncommon for people to start picturing familiar faces. For example, one white pumpkin carved with curled lips has reminded passersby of The Grinch.
“That’s what I love about these. You start to see things in the faces,” Pease said. “You’re like, ‘oh my God that looks like my coworker.’ It’s hard not to with a face.”
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The pumpkins come from Brad & Cindi’s Produce, a farm in Brodhead, Wisconsin, that you may recognize from the Edgebrook or Beloit farmers markets.
Once Halloween is over, the guts and pumpkins are composted to be spread in the Rockford couple’s garden.
“Everything gets reused here,” Pease said.
One thing Pease can’t answer about the display is how long it takes to finish it.
“I don’t count,” she said.
She said she’s been carving pumpkins since she was young, and improves on her designs each year. She hopes her display inspires people to carve pumpkins and flex their creativity.
“There’s so many things to be sad about in the world, and to be frustrated with, and so many things are out of our control,” she said. “To me this is stress relief. … and it can bring joy to other people.
“There’s just something about seeing a face in the darkness. It’s cool.”
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas