BY KRISTA RAMSEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The last vestiges of daylight are disappearing from the sky as Tom Rouse pulls his van into the center of Schappacher Farms' pumpkin patch outside Mason.
Six family members and friends quickly scatter out across the field. It is jack-o'-lantern season, and the hunt is on.
Robert Rouse, Tom's 26-year-old son, is back in minutes with a long, lean pumpkin, and a short, fat one speckled with green. His mother, Jennie, plops two perfectly shaped versions on the tailgate and daughter Amy, 16, adds a tiny one. Tom himself returns with a crooked, thick-stemmed pumpkin. "It's got character," he says with a grin.
These fat orange orbs are not mere contenders for the Rouses' jack-o'-lantern. They are all winners.
And there are more to come.
Within 45 minutes, the Rouses' van is sinking slightly in the mud, filled with 100 pumpkins of all shapes and sizes. When the pumpkin-chasers head back to the Rouses' Madeira home, they are 1,300 pounds heavier and $154 lighter. For some people, that would be more than enough investment in Halloween traditions.
For the Rouses, it is only the beginning.
The kids' expressions
For three days next weekend, their quarter-acre lot will glow with an unworldly orange light. The pumpkins will have been scrubbed, scraped, turned into hand-carved, one-of-a-kind works of art, and scattered among an elaborate display of cornstalks, tombstones, colored lights and creepy creatures. Inside the house, every room will be decorated for the holiday as well.
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IF YOU GO
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The Rouse Halloween display is at 7013 Summit Ave., Madeira, Oct. 30 and 31 and Nov. 1. From Interstate 71 North, take Exit 11 and turn right on Kenwood Road. Turn left on Euclid Avenue, and right on Summit Avenue. From Interstate 71 South, take Exit 12 and turn right on Montgomery Road. Turn left on Kenwood Road, left on Euclid Avenue, and right on Summit Avenue.
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When new families move into the quiet Summit Avenue neighborhood, they are told, "Wait until Halloween." But no one could expect a display that rivals the best of Christmas-lights exhibits, and draws a word-of-mouth audience from all over the Tristate.
"We don't do it for the notoriety," Tom Rouse says. "I just get a real kick out of watching the kids' expressions. The littler the kid, the better.
"I remember, growing up, how much days like Halloween meant. You looked forward to them for weeks."
For the Rouses, the 18-year tradition began with a friend's pumpkin-carving contest. It has since evolved into a family event of such proportions that ordinary life virtually comes to a halt the week before Halloween.
Meals are skipped. Sleep is lost, chores forgotten. Nearly $400 and 50 hours of work are spent on a display that peaks for a few precious hours on Halloween night.
It is a brief time, but powerful. The jack-o'-lanterns waver and glimmer, enchanting every child and even the most jaded adult.
100 glowing faces
Tom, the master pumpkin carver, can whittle out almost anything he sees or imagines. Bats, cats, palm trees, faces, entire Halloween scenes. Each pumpkin is an original, but every year family members and "long-term significant others" will find their names scripted out somewhere in the piles of pumpkins.
Jennie Rouse works on the display virtually year-round, shopping for discounted decorations and dreaming up enhancements. This year, a fog-making machine will be added, and a number of eye-catching skulls.
"People say, "You do what? Why do you do that?,' " Jennie Rouse says with a laugh. "I say, "We do it because we enjoy it, and because everyone else does, too.' "
It is the Rouses' gift to the community, and a generous one at that.
On Friday night, 100 grinning faces will glow on Summit Avenue, and magic will indeed be in the air.
Candles will dance. Children will laugh. Fun will reign and, somehow, time will stand still.
Quite a trick, on the part of the Rouses. And for the rest of us, quite a treat.
Krista Ramsey's column appears on Saturdays. Write her at the Enquirer, 312 Elm St. Cincinnati 45202.
RAMSEY ARCHIVE