MONCKS CORNER, S.C.—Forget about your traditional yard decorations for Halloween. For Kelly DeHay, of Moncks Corner, she decided to go the nontraditional route.
“Halloween is my favorite holiday because nobody gets sad on that day,” explained DeHay. “It’s a fun time.”
On Wednesday, DeHay was all smiles and giggles as she created a look-a-like scarecrow of her late father mowing over her husband—but it was all in good fun.
“Oh, my God, my dad would laugh if he saw it. He had a huge sense of humor,” said DeHay. “It actually looks so much like my dad I almost wanted to hug him then I stopped. I was like, ‘Nah, that’d be too weird.’”
DeHay’s father, Gary Martin, passed away in December 2005 from a lengthy battle with lung cancer. He was just 63-years-old.
“Everybody around here knew him. He used to work at Bosch as the maintenance mechanic, and he 
was also a race car driver at Summerville Speedway. He was #52,” stated DeHay.
It wasn’t until five years after his death that she first got the idea to create the Halloween decoration inspired by her comical father.
“I couldn’t stand it. I had to do it again. I got my nephew to pull out the old lawnmower that was Daddy’s into the front yard. I started decorating it, and just had a ball doing that. It was just so fun,” laughed DeHay.
According to DeHay, whenever her father would cut the grass, you’d find him smoking a cigarette while carrying a cup of sweet tea in the other hand.
“It’s just a neat way to remember my dad. This was his house, and he took such good care of the house and the yard and garage and everything,” stated DeHay.
To re-create the “mower accident,” DeHay said she took some of her husband’s old clothes and stuffed them with pine straw before strategically placing them under the mower.
“Poor, John!” she laughed.
Since the decoration went up, DeHay says her neighbors have gotten quite the kick out of it.
“My neighbors absolutely love it. They never met my dad, but they kind of saw a bit of his personality by seeing the decoration,” stated DeHay. “My mom was married to my dad for 21 years, so she has really been freaking out and saying, ‘That looks so much like him.’”
With Halloween just a few days away, DeHay says she’s already thinking about next year’s yard decoration—starring her father, of course.
“He liked to fish, so next year I might put him in a boat in the front yard,” joked DeHay.
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