By Justin Watrel
Halloween has come to Hasbrouck Heights and the Hasbrouck Heights Men’s Association has picked the winners in the Third Annual Hasbrouck Heights Men’s Association Halloween House Decorating Contest. We traveled every road in town both during the day and at night to find the best ghosts, ghouls and things that go bump in the night on people’s lawns and houses, showing off the creativity of the residents of Hasbrouck Heights on Halloween night.
The winners of the House Decorating Contest were Frank and Mary Rose Blunda at 510 Henry Street. The Blunda’s have been runner-up for the last two years and had ‘upped their game’ with new decorations and designing their lawn to be more of an ‘open haunted house.’ When told they had won, Mrs. Blunda said, “I thought you were going to tell us we were runners up again” but the committee informed her and her husband, Frank, the master mind behind each year’s creative show, that they had won. “I added some extra things this year,” Frank Blunda said. “You should see the way we have lit the house at night. We have a lot of fun with this.” The Blunda’s have done an excellent job with decorating each year and have made the town proud with their creativity. It is an award well earned.
The two runners up this year were 36 Hamilton Avenue and 42 Central Avenue. The boarded-up windows and Mad Scientist display of the lawn at 36 Hamilton Avenue is the creative genius of residents Alex and Laura Pena. “I love decorating the house for Halloween,” Alex Pena said. “This year I added more things to give it the look it has. I try to find a creative way to display all the skeletons and pieces I have.” The house has the appearance of a home abandoned except for the ghoulish residents on the lawn getting their final goodbyes. The walkways, roof and door awning were covered with skeletons welcoming you to this haunted abode.
The Chief of the Hasbrouck Heights Police Department Chief Joseph Rinke and his wife Lisa at 42 Central Avenue were the other runners-up in the contest. The roof and sides of the house have skeletons climbing and crawling their way into the house. Ghosts and ghouls greet you from the walkway to the entrance of the house. When you enter, the entire house is decorated to the hilt with decorations in every room and even a spider display in the bathtub. “Our daughter was born on Halloween so we like to entertain and have the house decorated for Halloween,” Lisa Rinke said of all the wonderful decorations around the house. “My husband spent a lot of time clasping skeletons around the house.” It showed in the way the skeleton army wanted to enter the home.
The Merchants did their share of decorating along the Boulevard. This year’s winner for the Merchant category is the winner for the second year, Heights Flower Shoppe owner Ray Vorisek. Heights Flower Shoppe always does an excellent job not just with their windows but inside and outside the store as well. Shoppers are greeted at 209 Boulevard with Mr. Pumpkin Head and various ghosts welcoming you into the story which was decorated to the hilt with interesting Halloween decorations, candy, and beautiful flowers to welcome guests to a Halloween feast. “I love decorating the store for the holidays,” Ray Vorisek said. “The staff and I have a lot of fun during the holidays.” We are so proud of Mr. Vorisek and his staff for the excellent job they do each year with all the holidays especially between Halloween and Christmas.
The Runner Up this year was Mimi and Jose Rodriguez at Mimi’s VIP Pet Salon & Boutique at 444 Boulevard. Their creative display of a skeleton girl walking her skeleton dog was pure genius and built on the logo of the store. “The logo is my wife walking her dog,” Jose Rodriguez said. “My wife built on that.” Mimi Rodriguez was just as surprised by being runner up. “We thought this was a great way to decorate the store for Halloween and we had fun with it.” It was a clever way to incorporate the logo of the store with the design of the windows.
There were many great houses with Halloween decorations to choose from but we awarded Honorary Mention to 115 Ottawa Avenue for their continued creative decorations including the madman being electrocuted in the front yard and lavish displays by 82 Woodside Avenue and 253 Henry Street, both previous winners of the contest in 2022 and 2021 respectively.
Owner Scott Varicario decorates to the hilt every year with ghosts, ghouls and witches and things that go bump in the night all over the lawn at 253 Henry Street. Things crawl, reach and grab while they climb up trees and cover the yard. “I love decorating for Halloween,” Scott Varicario said when we handed him the Honorary Mention to his creative efforts. Last year’s winners, Matt and Lisa Fiduccia at 82 Woodside Avenue also showed off their creative efforts with a display on their front yard that always changes and has creatures popping out from here and there. There is always a rivalry between these two winners to show their love of the Halloween spirit.
The Hasbrouck Heights Men’s Association wants to congratulate all the winners and the many homes that we visited. A special mention also to 446 Burton Avenue, 108 Central Avenue, 237 Madison Avenue, 417 Madison Avenue, 308 Lawrence Avenue, 84 Lawrence Avenue, 116 Bell Avenue, 123 Washington Place 103 Hamiton Avenue, 94 Wood Street, 143 Kipp Avenue and to Bill O’Shea’s and last year’s runner up Merchant winner Spindler’s Bake Shop for their creative efforts of keeping the Halloween spirit alive and dead in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ.
Happy Halloween everyone from the Hasbrouck Heights Men’s Association!!
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