PRP pirate yard benefits Dare to Care
By Patrick T. Sullivan From courier-journal
With a ship steering wheel, pirate-themed bar and other nautical exhibits attracting nightly visitors to their front yard, Tim and Erin Phillips say that every day this month has felt like Halloween.
But the couple aren’t handing out candy to trick-or-treaters. Rather, visitors are bringing food to their Pleasure Ridge Park home each night.
The Phillipses are collecting food for Dare to Care Food Bank and promoting the cause this month with their elaborate Halloween decorations.
“I get so much attention for the yard, so I thought, let’s make it a positive thing,” Erin Phillips said. “The end of October, the start of November and December, can be a tough time for people in need, so we figured we’d start a food drive.”
Since setting up their yard haunt in late September, the Phillips have collected nearly 200 pounds of food for Dare to Care.
Dare to Care spokesman Stan Siegwald said the food bank is looking forward to receiving the food in November.
The couple began decorating their yard with pirate-themed exhibits five years ago when their daughter, Madison, now 12, wanted a “Pirates of the Caribbean” birthday party. They continued to add to the yard decorations each year and have spent roughly $10,000 on them.
The yard’s newest addition, a life-size ship steering wheel — complete with a crow’s nest and pirate skeletons — took the couple six weeks to build. The crow’s nest is made out of a basketball goal, while the wheel and its platform are made of table legs and other wood. Cannons placed in front of the wheel are PVC piping.
“We weren’t builders when we started,” Erin Phillips said. “We just learned in the process.”
The couple’s attention to detail on the decorations impressed photographer and pirate enthusiast Craig Spencer, whose girlfriend, Stacy Rivera, surprised him by taking him to the Phillipses’ home last week.
“It’s all in the small details,” Spencer said, admiring the skeletons and bar constructed from barrels.
Spencer and Rivera, who live in Fern Creek, are two of the hundreds of visitors the Phillips have seen this month. Strangers flock to the yard just after dark to see the exhibits fully lit.
The yard’s popularity has skyrocketed in recent years, but neighbors don’t mind the attention or the traffic it draws.
“It’s great for the kids,” said Sarah Wheatley, who lives nearby on Seaforth Drive.
Erin Phillips said that word of the elaborate yard haunt and food collection quickly spread through social media, and more people show up each day.
“It’s a different way to give,” Pleasure Ridge Park resident Hannah Rito said while looking at one of the pirate displays last week.
The Phillipses have embraced the attention, leaving their front door open so they can greet visitors and pass out “Pirate’s Booty” snacks to children.
The Phillipses anticipate at least 200 trick-or-treaters on Halloween and will be dressed as pirates to hand out candy. A Jack Sparrow impersonator will also be on hand to greet trick-or-treaters.
The couple want to collect more than 400 pounds of non-perishable food items by the end of October, and Erin Phillips thinks they will far surpass that expectation.
“We’re going to blow that out of the water,” she said with a laugh. “No pun intended.”
PHOTO: Tim and Erin Phillips in their ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’-themed front yard. / Angela Shoemaker/Special to The Courier-journal
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