The quiet little hamlet of Bratsberg five miles south of Rushford boasts a few houses and a couple old store fronts, but this time of the year there’s an added attraction. Mitch Paulson, who lives at the intersection of Highways 43 and 10, loves to make people smile. For the last 10 years or so Mitch has done this by creating his own Halloween display using a multitude of pumpkins, wood, cornstalks and clothes.
One of the earliest creations was of a man bent over a pickup truck’s open hood. At the time, Mitch worked at a bus company. Other guys from the company kept calling him up, asking him why he was at home and if he had truck trouble. He had dressed the character in his own old clothes and people passing by apparently thought it was him. Mitch chuckled that he felt a need to check out his butt and see if it really was orange. Why? Because the bent over man had a couple of pumpkins peeking out of his jeans to portray his tush!
Mitch started outdoor decorating when he was a sophomore by decorating at the end of his parents’ farm driveway. A bit later he created a pumpkin deer which he displayed all deer hunting season.
When he started decorating at his own house, he planted a bunch of pumpkin seeds to ensure he had an ample supply of pumpkins in all sizes for his needs. For the last nine years, he’s saved seeds from the pumpkins to replant the next year. This year he planted five fields of pumpkins at his parents, Milford and Linda Paulson’s, farm. He knew he needed lots of pumpkins and was well aware that weather and conditions can affect production. Melody, Mitch and wife Nicole’s daughter, will be getting married the weekend of October 19 and wanted to use pumpkins to decorate for the wedding.
Mitch starts planning in earnest for Halloween in April and May while he sits in turkey blinds waiting for a turkey. He’s also had success planning while bear hunting. “If building hasn’t begun by the Fourth of July, it’s not gonna happen that year!” Mitch declared.
Once he’s got everything together, it still takes another 40 hours to finish. The last two weeks of creation, Mitch spends every night out in the yard.
While the vehicles and animals can be set up in the daylight, Mitch and Nicole quickly learned they were better off to perfect the people at night under the cover of darkness – people REALLY stared as they drove by during the day and saw the couple adjusting parts of the pumpkin people! Now Mitch wears a headlamp and quickly shuts it off when they see someone coming as they adjust details.
No one knows ahead of time what Mitch is planning each year, not even Nicole. This year she thought she knew – Mitch had used a joint account to order his tux for the groom online. Nicole wrongly guessed that he was doing a Beetlejuice theme; Mitch never corrected her.
Calling himself stubborn, Mitch declared that most of the project is the one-man project. Sometimes though, Mitch needs to call on his neighbors, Chris Torgerud, Dave Lombard and Doug and Colby Lind to help him out with the heavy moving. The jointed wooden horse used this year ended up weighing about 400 pounds! Mitch also needed help bringing the wagon to his yard. After the first year of creating a cornstalk horse. Mitch learned to build it outside rather than in his garage. He had cornstalks all over his garage before it was finished the first year! Mitch’s dad, Milford, cuts and delivers the cornstalks from his nearby farm.
All of the people are made of recycled pallets and are jointed. Mitch tears pallets apart in July to get ready to build what he needs. Mitch makes the people his size so he always knows if clothing he acquires will fit them. Between Halloweens the people are stored seated in his garage. One year, Mitch had them all set up in his garage when a FedEx guy opened up the garage to put his package in it – he got quite a surprise when he saw them all!
Through the years, Mitch has used various themes. One year it had snowed a lot so he went with snowmobiles, one time it was deer hunting and last year he had gone with a renaissance theme. This year, he got his inspiration from the fact that Melody was getting married. The wagon’s sign declares, “Almost Married” instead of the usual “Just Married!” Wife Nicole added a feminine touch with flowers around the wedding arch. Nicole shared that she plans on using the flowers at Melody’s wedding as well!
When his daughters Melody and Hailey were younger, they would create a cemetery in the front corner of the yard and Mitch’s creations would be relegated to the back of the area. As time went by, the girls grew less interested, and Mitch regained the entire yard for his displays.
Mitch has often been asked if he’s going to do something similar for Christmas or other holidays. His answer? An adamant, “No! The pumpkins die; they freeze, they turn to mush!”
The Paulsons have chosen not to light their display. They don’t want to distract drivers any more than they already do!
A couple from southern Iowa makes a road trip to Bratsberg in mid-October mostly to see the new display. People look forward to seeing it each year and stop in all day to take a picture and check out the display. Mitch chuckled, “Little kids get a big kick out of the pumpkin butts!”
Mitch is already thinking about next year, but is not about to divulge any hints. Some of his ideas take all winter to complete. This year Mitch spent between $250 and $300 on his display. No one helps him out with the expense and he said he wouldn’t accept it even if they offered.
When asked why he does all this, Mitch simply responded, “I just want to make people smile!” That goal is accomplished many times a day in Bratsberg.
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