If you know Jessica Simmons, you do not expect anything less than a “Monster Halloween” at her home, inside and outside, in the Russell Road area of Bolivar. You cannot miss her house with the signature “Ozzy’s Boneyard” on her front lawn. This will be the fifth year she is bringing the highly anticipated Monster Trick-or-Treat to her community.
If you guessed Halloween is Jessica’s favorite “holiday,” you would be right!
“Halloween for me is the one time a year where you can be anyone or anything and no one can tell you that you can’t. As a person who is usually seen as “too much,” it’s like my outlet to be “as much” as I want without judgement,” said Jessica.
The annual tradition started years before Jessica started holding the event at her home. It goes all the way back to when her son, Kaigan, was a student at Bolivar Elementary School. Kaigan is now a junior in high school.
“I started the trunk-or-treat when I was PTO President at Bolivar Elementary. Once my time as president was over, I didn’t want to give up such a happy and fun event for our community. Our neighborhood hadn’t seen trick-or-treaters for years and I wanted to give my neighbors a chance to see the joy that could be had from just handing out candy,” said Jessica. “Going into our fifth year, it’s really been great to hear from my neighbors that ‘they wish they’d done it sooner’ or to learn that it’s brought such great joy to some of our elderly neighbors to be able to participate.”
Like clockwork, Jessica starts decorating for the production every year on September 1. This year, Jessica’ schedule had her slightly behind due to surgery she had in August. Although she was not able to start decorating outside, that did not stop her from starting the festivities inside.
“I’ve started to work on the inside of my house now and that takes me roughly three days to get done. Outside really depends on the weather and getting everything down from the attic,” said Jessica. “I really love decorating my mantle and my big dining room. Walking into the house after it’s all done and looking at how cool something is that other people pay big money to have done. Knowing my creativity created something from nothing is great! Watching Halloween movies with everything decorated is the best.”
A monster display did not just appear out of nowhere. It started with Jessica’ vision and gathering the pieces to make it come to life.
“I started out with just some simple spider webs and things that I made from scratch. Now, I have a full five-piece band, along with other large yard displays and large inside displays,” said Jessica. “Halloween decorations are not cheap. I get one new big thing usually every year and just build upon what I’ve already got. We change the locations of things around the yard, but most of my stuff is pretty consistent until it breaks. I’ve gotten almost all the members of the skeleton band from Lowe’s, and they’ve been named “Ozzy’s Boneyard”. With my love of all things rock music, I don’t think anyone expects any less.”
On October 31, Jessica’ house is Halloween Central with families from the neighborhood meeting in her yard to give away candy. Although not required, they add to the fun by dressing up. It becomes a pit-stop for trick-or-treaters to get more candy along with the treats they gather from the neighboring houses along Russel Road participating in the event. Those houses can be identified by a sign in their yard and flashing lights on their mailboxes.
Jessica sets up a huge party with food and decorations in her garage for the people who participate at her home. She describes the evening as an amazing night with everyone special to them giving back to the kids of Hardeman County.
“Our neighbors are wonderful. They spend their own hard-earned money on candy and other items to hand out. We have one couple that hands out books and bookmarks. A family had just moved in last year and I stopped by to let them know about the pandemonium and they jumped on board to hand out immediately and loved it,” said Jessica. “It truly is a crazy night with crazy traffic and even though some don’t participate in handing out candy, they do have the patience to let me put this on year after year and for that I am so grateful!”
Jessica is in the midst of putting everything together for a memorable evening that is always enjoyed by people of all ages. Jessica has special costumes planned for herself and her ponies, Pete, Winnie, and Frodo. At some point, she will decide the final decoration has been placed, and everything is ready for the festivities to begin.
“There’s this moment every year, kind of how you see in the movies, where everything is happening all around me and I’m just standing back watching it all happen. Knowing I make that happen every year, every time, without a hitch- in that moment, I just sigh and know all the planning and stress was worth it,” said Jessica. “Letting each kid pick what they want out of my coffin[{display] and knowing they got something cool like a rubber duck [her signature hand out], a full-size candy bar [they’re always excited about actually getting those], their favorite gummy candy, or whatever mini toy I can throw in there that’s popular that year.”
Once November 1 rolls around, Halloween will be over. Jessica will take a breath only for a moment, because Christmas is just around the corner.
“Christmas is big on the inside of my house, but not as much on the outside. I could really be better about that, but I think after I pour so much into Halloween, then clean up, then redecorate for Christmas, I’m just done,” said Jessica. “Plus, my husband tells me by that point I’ve spent enough!”
