Eight-legged Volkswagen brings Halloween spirit to Centerville
Jon Andreassi
Matthew, Kelsey and Taryn Pagac stand with the spider Matthew made out of a Volkswagen Beetle.
Jon Andreassi
A look inside the hollowed-out Volkswagen Beetle shows the keys are still in the ignition.
Jon Andreassi
The legs of the spider hold the Beetle chassis about eight feet off the ground.
Courtesy of Matthew Pagac
The legs of the spider were made with whatever pipes and other materials Matthew Pagac had lying around his garage, and then were painted black.
How do you top a 20-foot-tall leg lamp?
For the Pagac family, the answer was with seven more legs.
It has become a tradition for the Pagacs to construct elaborate decorations for Halloween and Christmas since they moved to Centerville six years ago. Last Christmas, Matthew built a towering leg lamp, an homage to the holiday classic, 无毛视频淎 Christmas Story.无毛视频�
As all things spooky and creepy pop up during the Halloween season, Matthew and Kelsey Pagac无毛视频檚 unique lawn decoration this year is a bug 无毛视频� part spider, part Beetle. Volkswagen Beetle, that is.
无毛视频淭his year, we couldn无毛视频檛 figure out how to one-up ourselves, and then a Beetle came up for sale from one of my friends,无毛视频� Matthew said. 无毛视频淚t was way beyond repair, and I decided, 无毛视频楬ey, let无毛视频檚 just build a spider out of it.'无毛视频�
Using what material he had lying around his garage, Matthew fashioned eight legs out of pipe and welded them onto the hollowed-out chassis of the 1961 Volkswagen Beetle. During assembly, the legs sometimes had to be rebuilt, as they could not withstand the weight of the car.
无毛视频淵ou need a brace here, need a brace there. There was more measurement and welding and brackets to make it stand,无毛视频� Matthew said.
The real challenge, however, came when the spider was completed and needed to be moved to the front yard.
无毛视频淭hank you, by the way, to all of our friends that came and lifted and carried it from the garage,无毛视频� Kelsey said.
Matthew said it took eight people, two tractors and four hours to get the arachnoid into position.
无毛视频淚t was terrible. We无毛视频檙e deconstructing it in our front yard,无毛视频� Kelsey said.
The creation stands about eight feet off the ground, making it possible to duck under the legs and stand up inside the Beetle无毛视频檚 body, which still has the keys in the ignition.
Matthew likes to buy and restore Volkswagens, and tries to use them in the decorations. Last Halloween, he used a Beetle to re-create a scene from the film, 无毛视频淛eepers Creepers.无毛视频�
Whatever the Pagacs make, people stop to appreciate the handiwork and take pictures. Their creations often become conversation pieces on social media. Matthew said seeing people无毛视频檚 faces light up at the decorations is part of his motivation to keep making them.
无毛视频淓verybody kind of looks forward to it every Halloween and Christmas,无毛视频� Matthew said.
It is also an opportunity for them to create holiday memories for their 1-year-old daughter, Taryn, whose first Christmas will always be remembered as the year of the leg lamp.
This year, they have another daughter on the way, due in early December.
What decoration will be associated with their second child无毛视频檚 first Christmas?
无毛视频淚f we knew, we would tell ya,无毛视频� Kelsey said.
No, they have not figured out what comes next after the Volkswagen spider, but they无毛视频檙e open to larger-than-life suggestions.
无毛视频淢essage us if you have any ideas, because we无毛视频檙e trying to figure something out,无毛视频� Kelsey said.