Family-friendly Halloween -- Jack-o-lanterns honor memory of 'wonderful role model'

Friday, October 28, 2011
Second-grader Cadyn (left) and first-grader Raegan Smith invite everyone to drive by or walk by their house and see their family's front-yard Halloween jack-o-lantern display at the corner of West Seventh and I Streets (two houses north of McCook Junior High) in McCook, Nebraska. Cadyn's and Raegan's mother, Lyndsi, is the mastermind behind most of the 40-50 carved pumpkins; their dad, John, did a handful and the kids added their own carvings as well. (Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Daily Gazette)

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Lyndsi and John Smith see their carved Halloween pumpkins as an "anti-typical-Halloween" statement, carving fun and meaningful designs rather than dark and sinister images.

The front yard of the Smith home, two houses north of the junior high in McCook, Nebraska on West Seventh, is dotted with 40-50 jack-o-lanterns whose flickering candle-light illuminates designs that range from extremely intricate to deceptively simple. Some of the designs are patterns, some are free-hand; some pumpkins are real, some are carvable-fake pumpkins.

Lyndsi and John have fun creating the pumpkins with each other and with their two young children -- the display in McCook been a family project for three years now.

The Smiths' images are not evil or spooky -- everyone will recognize Mickey and Minnie ... Buzz Lightyear ... Spiderman ... Stitch of "Lilo and Stitch" ... Ariel, Flounder and Sebastian from "The Little Mermaid" ...

The Statue of Liberty ... the American flag ... a soldier kneeling before a cross ... Jesus Christ upon the cross.

Lyndsi explains, "So many times, Halloween depicts evil. We want to create a fun family environment. We are taking a stand for God, family, military and everything that is close to our hearts -- which is shown through looking at our pumpkins."

This year, the Smith family honors a family friend, Ryan Post, who passed away in December 2010. "He was a wonderful role model," Lyndsi said.

"He loved Jesus and led a drug-and alcohol-free life." The running stallion pumpkin recognizes one of Ryan's favorite pastimes -- horses. "Ryan was my brother's best friend, and our entire family adored him," Lyndsi said.

The Smith family jack-o-lanterns will be lighted each evening through Halloween Monday from about 7 p.m. until 10:30 p.m., providing there is no snow, rain or high winds. Any donations that passersby would like to give will go to the McCook Public Schools' DARE and anti-bullying programs.

Lyndsi and John's carved pumpkins can be seen on Facebook.


John, an officer with the McCook Police Department, is also school resource officer for McCook Public Schools and the DARE instructor. He is in the National Guard and is former active-duty U.S. navy, with three deployments. He is the son of John and Joanne Smith of West Bridgewater, Massachusetts.

Lyndsi is a registered dental hygienist for Dr. Bill Graves in McCook, and has roots in the McCook and Oberlin, Kansas, areas. She is the daughter of Lyn and Marci Reynolds of Oberlin, the granddaughter of Stan and Jeannine Reynolds and Louise Coburn of McCook and the great-granddaughter of LeeOra Mockry of Oberlin.

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