Olivia Russo
LV Life Editor
On Halloween, the city of La Verne can see anywhere from 2,500 to 5,000 residents to get treated to candy and tricked by the houses decorated for the spooky season.
For some of the houses on Bonita Ave., it is a tradition to bring a festive spirit to the front lawn.
These decorations range from pirates to pumpkins to films like “Jaws” and “Wicked,” all with the same goal: for kids and families to enjoy their Halloween.
Melissa Acuff, resident of La Verne for over 40 years, lives at the 2300 block of Bonita Ave. with her girlfriend. The front lawn featured skeletons playing various party games like bone pong and whack-a-skull.
“My girlfriend and mine’s inspiration because of the town Lordsburg is what it used to be named,” Acuff said. “So we went from there and went bone-wise.”
At the 2200 block of Bonita Ave, owner Linda Ruppert let her son, Dusty Ruppert, and daughter-in-law, Jill Ruppert, turn her front lawn into a creepy and detailed circus.
At night, the family adds fog machines, fake fire and their kids dress up as creepy clowns to scare anyone walking down the street. They already had booths, which inspired the idea, and added other pieces from Amazon.
“We’re pretty involved in La Verne and he’s (Dusty Ruppert) lived here for his whole life,” Jill Ruppert said. “We love being part of the La Verne community and Bonita is really the prime street to be able to do something like this on, everybody sees it.”
The couple has been decorating the house for about four years and put together everything in about a month, adding each week as the holiday gets closer.
Further down the street are the two houses, known for their elaborate and well thought out decorations.
Another house on the 2200 block of Bonita Avenue, is home to Veronica DaSilva, who honored the 50th anniversary of Jaws this year with a shark attack themed lawn. She ordered plastic sharks from Home Depot, and hand built everything else, including the lifeguard chair that is a large repurposed popcorn bucket from last year.
“When I bought the house in 2022, I was a widow…I think it was a really great place for us to start over as a family…it’s just great to be able to make people happy to stop by,” DaSilva said.
Since her husband’s passing, DaSilva said that decorating the house is fun for her kids and gives them happier memories despite their hardship.
“I’ve met so many neighbors, so many people just by doing this,” DaSilva said. “I’ve met friends and built a community, my kids too…creating new memories for them after a situation that’s just been so rough, it just seems to be getting better.”
The house next door, owners Dominique and Chris Johnson, went viral on TikTok for their “Wicked” house, which involved them painting their house pink and green, the two popular colors from the movie.
The house features main characters, Elphaba, floating in front of the house, similar to her final pose during the musical number “Defying Gravity,” and Glinda, on the lawn in her bubble, similar to her introduction in the movie.
“We love the musical, we can’t wait for the next part to come out next month,” Chris Johnson said. “We try to do whatever’s been popular…we brainstorm on it usually in June or July, and then start working on it in September. I try to get it all up by October 1.”
The Johnson family has been decorating their house since purchasing it in October 2016, they placed skeletons outside to appear as if they were doing construction on the house. Since then, decorating has become an annual tradition
“I think the word is really hard right now,” Dominique Johnson said. “With technology, young people have access to probably more information than they should and they’re not ready to process it…I get so excited hearing the kids out front. They want to take pictures and that’s it. We’ve achieved it.”
DaSilva plans to redecorate her house for the season of “Stranger Things” in November, and the Johnson family is debating whether to keep their house decorated for the release of “Wicked: For Good.” However both houses plan to go all out for the Christmas season.
“If I can do it differently every month, then I probably will, I don’t think I’m going to stop,” DaSilva said.
Olivia Russo can be reached at olivia.russo@laverne.edu.
Olivia Russo is a senior journalism major with a concentration in print/online journalism and a minor in criminology. She is the Editor-in-Chief for the Campus Times for Spring 2026. She has previously served as the News Editor, LV Life Editor, a photographer and a staff writer for the Campus Times, as well as a staff writer and photographer for La Verne Magazine.
Lexi Giacobbe is a senior communications major with an concentration in public relations. She is a staff photographer for the Campus Times and La Verne Magazine, a staff writer for the magazine, and previously served as a staff writer for the Campus Times. She is also a member of the University of La Verne volleyball team.
