For Irene Daunce and her husband there’s no holiday quite like Halloween.
“We had a Halloween wedding,” Irene said. “We were in costume, everyone was in costume. We even had the minister dressed up as a monk.”
The couple moved from the Falls to the northern suburb two years ago to “get out of city living” and have enjoyed the quiet life they can lead out on Saunders Settlement Road. With more room, they’ve also taken to creating a large Halloween display on their front lawn.
Working with family members and friends, the Daunces create a ghostly graveyard, complete with scary arches, and dozens of ghouls and witches filling their front yard.
“We make a big cemetery and usually we start to set it up at the end of September so that it’s up for more than a month,” Irene said. “People come from all over to see it.”
Irene said the display brings a steady stream of visitors throughout the month of October.
“They stop and pull in the driveway,” she said. “Then they get out and they take pictures. On Halloween, we get all dressed up and do a little show and pass out candy. It’s the biggest holiday of the year for us — bigger than Christmas.”
Yet, just like the Grinch, sometime after midnight last Tuesday, someone swooped in and stole the Daunces’ Halloween.
“Everything was wiped out,” Irene said. “They took everything from the front lawn that wasn’t close enough to the front of the house to set off the motion lights.”
Putting out a display like the Daunces’ isn’t cheap. The estimated value of the ghouls, witches and other decorations that were taken tops $1,500.
“It had to take at least five to seven people and two pick-up trucks to take everything,” Irene said. “They didn’t just walk away with this.”
Lewiston Police were alerted to the theft and are actively looking into it.
“It is under investigation currently,” Lewiston Police Sgt. Frank Previte said. “But we don’t have anything further on it at this time.”
Previte said police are hoping someone who may have seen suspicious activity or have actual knowledge about the theft will contact them. Irene says she, her husband and neighbors have no idea who would steal their decorations.
“No idea at all,” Irene said with a sigh. “I’m devastated. It’s the one time of the year we so looked forward to.”
With All Hallows Eve arriving on Saturday, Irene said she and her family and friends are trying to rebuild their spooky treat with the decorations the thieves left behind. It will be something to celebrate the day, but not much.
“We’re trying to use the remnants to make a new display,” Irene said. “To replace (the display) now would be a miracle. (The theft) has broken our spirit.”
Crime
Related Photos
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Jeanette Salerno and Irene Daunce stand in Daunce’s yard Monday and look over the decorations. About $1,500 in Halloween decorations were stolen from the yard recently. Albert T. McCracken jr
LEWISTON: Thieves in the night steal most of a popular Halloween display
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BLOTTER: Police reports published Feb. 7
A Falls man was arrested on drunken driving and other charges after a traffic stop in the 400 block of Main Street at 5:20 a.m. Friday.
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BLOTTER: Police reports published Feb. 6
Falls police had nothing new to report Sunday in the case of a missing 67-year-old LaSalle woman.
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Nightclub stabbing investigated in Lockport
Lockport Police are investigating the stabbing of a man at a nightclub early Sunday morning.
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Horse in ’bad shape’ seized from Somerset property
Niagara County Sheriff’s deputies were called to Carmen Road Saturday afternoon after a horse was found laying in a ditch without any restraints or supervision.
The person that found the horse tied it up, brought it some apple carrots and water and called police. They said it appeared the animal was malnourished and emaciated. -
Falls police looking for missing woman
Police are searching for a 67-year-old LaSalle woman who went missing Friday.
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BLOTTER: Police reports published Feb. 5
Howard C. Irish, 55, 617 18th St., lower apartment, was charged with petit larceny and fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property.
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DWI suspect hit sign on way to KFC
A Niagara Falls man was arrested for DWI and other traffic charges Friday night after striking two traffic signs on the Twin Cities Memorial Highway on his way to pick up some fried chicken.
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Woman arrested during DWI stop
An Amherst woman was arresetd by City of Tonawanda police and charged with DWI early Saturday.
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BLOTTER: Police reports published Feb. 4, 2012
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‘Person of interest’ in recent spate of robberies strikes out Thursday
The man police are looking for in at least two other city robberies of Wilson Farms stores tried to strike again Thursday night.
This time it was the Wilson Farms location at Fourth and Niagara streets — but the result was different. - More Crime Headlines
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