Few families do the holidays quite like the Petramalos of Cobia Cay in Apollo Beach.
The family drew hundreds to their home recently with Halloween decorations that you are unlikely to see outside even a professional haunted house. Their Christmas show promises to be even more spectacular.
The family has been creating the holiday displays for a decade but, having recently moved, their Halloween display was their first at their new home on Blackfin Way. The decorations drew more than 900 people. It took the family 45 days to put together the Halloween display.
“But if you came to our house today, you would not recognize it because we already have a Thanksgiving theme up,” said Mike Petramalo. The family worked four hours late on Halloween night taking down the spooky décor and then an additional 15 hours putting up their Thanksgiving display.
“Everything Halloween-related is down and put away, and Thanksgiving is officially up for November,” Petramalo said.
So why spend so much time and energy, not to mention money (the family spends around $3,000 to $5,000 a year on the shows, building up a considerable inventory), on the displays that wow hundreds every year?
“We have the pleasure of having a 19-year-old daughter, Laura, who has Down syndrome and we also have a teenage son, Michael, so when they were children we started to do this. And then over the years it has sort of morphed into a way to raise funds for charity,” Petramalo said.
Their Christmas display last year benefited the United Way, with the public bidding for the right to come to the Petramalos’ home, have a dinner and view the display close up. The result was a $4,000 day for the United Way.
“Through the years, we have done it that way, but now it’s as much about empowering our daughter and son to carry out a tradition as time goes on,” Petramalo said.
Laura loves decorating for the holidays, in particular Halloween and Christmas. “Laura is the gatekeeper,” Petramalo said. “She’s the person [at Halloween] that, if you are lucky enough to get by Jason Voorhees (the villain from the Friday the 13th movie franchise) and Michael Myers (the villain of Halloween movie fame), then Laura will greet you with some wonderful candy and food.”
This year’s Halloween display was not a fundraiser, “just because we are so new here and wanted to get our bearings,” Petramalo said.
In most places, it’s been a 50-50 proposition for the Petramalos’ displays with children and adults enjoying the show equally. “But this year it was really adult-driven in a lot of ways,” Petramalo said. “This neighborhood truly enjoyed coming over and spending time both inside and outside the property.”
The family is already looking ahead to next month. They have already started installing their Christmas lighting in preparation for a December show that may be a fundraiser for charity.
