SAINT CLAIR SHORES, Mich. (WXYZ) — A Saint Clair Shores family is combining Halloween spirit with Detroit Lions pride on Joy Street — all for a 15-year-old boy who loves the holiday.
Chad Latta is the creative force behind the display, which this year features skeletons dressed as Lions players past and present, tombstones covered in team statistics, and a tribute to head coach Dan Campbell and his two dogs — all part of what the family calls the Lion's Den.
"This year we did a little something different from last year. We wanted to do the Lion's Den," Chad Latta said.
Get a Look at the Display in the Video Player Below
The family recently moved to the neighborhood, but they brought their Halloween tradition with them. The street name felt like a perfect fit.
"That's why we laughed about when it happened. We found the house we were going to move into, and we're like, we're on Joy Street, and we want to bring Joy to people," Latta said.
The Lions theme is a natural extension of the family's passion for the team.
"We're big fans of Dan, Dan Campbell so we always try to make one big thing of him," Latta said.
Every display begins with a hand-drawn sketch. This year, the original plan was to build a walk-through tunnel — but nature had other ideas.
"You were going to be able to walk through it, and nature told me to change my direction because it took the tent down," Latta said.
The display also nearly didn't happen this year for a different reason.
"Because it was just, financially it was tough, and things we had going on, we just had moved, and the first thing they asked was hey, are we putting up our Halloween display, and that kind of triggered it to get it going again," Latta said.
At the heart of it all is Brody, Chad's son. Chad started going all out for Halloween nearly 10 years ago, and every year he tries to make it a little more special.
"My son, he's 15-years-old, he's autistic, loves Halloween, he's just a happy kids," Latta said.
"He gets excited about it and seeing that, it pumps me up. Even when I don't want to do it, it makes me, pushes me that little extra to do it," Latta said.
Last year, I first featured Chad and his family's Halloween tradition. This year, I got to meet 15-year-old Brody.
When I asked Brody if he liked that his dad decorates their yard for Halloween, his answer was simple.
"Yes," Brody Latta said.
When I asked why, Brody explained it in his own words.
"Because dad is a really good decorator. He's not so much into Christmas, but, I don't think he's much into Thanksgiving," Brody said.
This year, Chad's daughter Emma is also helping bring the display to life.
"I did a lot of other embroidery of the tombstones," Emma Latta said.
The decorations are already doing exactly what the family hoped — bringing people together.
"Our neighbor had a big yard sale a couple days ago and as the people were pulling up they were like we're coming back, oh my gosh, and they were already asking if they can go in it as we were putting the characters up," Latta said.
The display will remain up through Halloween. On Halloween night, the family plans to open it up so trick-or-treaters can walk through.
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