MAINEVILLE, Ohio — In the front yard of a Maineville home, "Taylor Stiff" clutches a microphone while sporting an ugly Christmas sweater. Nearby, "Joe Marrow" shows off his cool sunglasses and reindeer sweater, ready to throw a football. "Clark Grisbone" tangles with Christmas lights while his skeletal family looks on.
These aren't your typical holiday decorations. They're Halloween skeletons who've been given a festive makeover and a charitable mission — raising food donations for the Kings Local Food Pantry.
The Fredericks family's creative display features three themed groups of skeleton celebrities, each with humorously crafted backstories and props that bring them to life.
"The Pop Stars" showcase the musical talents of Taylor Stiff, Billie Eyeless and Skelena Gomez — names the family's teenage boys helped create. Matt Fredericks ordered microphones from Amazon to complete their performance setup.
"It's a lot of fun," Matt Fredericks said.
The Cincinnati Bengals-inspired group features his personal favorites: Knee Higgins, Joe Marrow with his signature sunglasses, and Jaw-Marr Chase holding a football. Matt spent hours the morning of Black Friday ensuring Jaw-Marr Chase was properly equipped after the team's recent victory.
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"(Making sure he) had a football, you know, he was catching a lot of them last night," Matt said. "And of course, Joe — he needed his sunglasses. He's got a reindeer with sunglasses on. So that's kind of my favorite sweater."
But it's "The Grisbones" that showcase the family's love for the movie "Christmas Vacation." Clark wears a moose shirt and recreates the iconic tangled lights scene, handing a knotted mess to Rusty while Ellen sports a cat sweater — a nod to the film's memorable feline-in-the-tree moment.
The skeletal stars emerged from a practical problem in early November when Betsy Fredericks ran out of storage containers while packing up their expanded Halloween display.
"I'm like, 'But we could add them to our Christmas display, and we could put ugly sweaters on them,' because everyone loves an ugly sweater," Betsy said.
What started as a storage solution quickly became a passion project. The family headed to Goodwill for sweaters and began brainstorming names, eventually settling on celebrity parodies that would hopefully resonate with visitors.
Matt Fredericks admits he initially thought his wife's idea was "a bit crazy" but has since become the display's chief perfectionist, spending hours adjusting props and adding authentic details.
"So, I guess I'm part of the crazy now, too," Matt said.
The skeletal celebrities are competing for a worthy cause. The Kings Local Food Pantry serves approximately 170 to 180 families each month, totaling around 500 individuals. The 35-year-old pantry, located in the South Lebanon Community Center, has seen increased demand following recent government disruptions.
"Recently, as you can imagine, with the disruption caused by the government shutdown, the last two months, we've seen a huge spike in the number of families as well as the number of food donations that we've received," said Bill Smith, president of the board of trustees for Kings Local Food Pantry.
When Betsy Fredericks contacted the pantry director about her family's skeleton fundraiser idea, the response was enthusiastic.
"Betsy told her about the idea. She thought it was wonderful. Tracy called me and said, 'Would this be something that we would be interested in doing?' We said, 'Absolutely,'" Smith said.
The family accepts food donations nightly between 5 and 10 p.m. through December 14. Because the skeletons are competing in an Ugly Christmas Sweater competition, every can or good donated equals one vote.
For those who don't bring goods but still wish to participate, the Fredericks posted a QR code allowing monetary donations directly to the food pantry. They also maintain a Facebook page tracking nightly winners of their "Jolly to the Bone" competition.
Smith emphasized that awareness is equally important as the donations themselves, noting that many residents don't realize food insecurity exists in their community.
"There is a lot of affluence here, but there's another side of the school district where you don't have that," Smith said.
The Fredericks family has lived in the Kings Local School District for 10 years and has been involved with the elementary school PTO and various sports fundraisers. Betsy said she only learned about the local food pantry last year when her son helped his freshman football team with food pantry activities.
"You never think about where we're at, but there's a need for it," Betsy said.
Despite some rainy weather affecting initial turnout, donation bins are starting to fill up. The family plans to deliver all collected items to the Kings Local Food Pantry before Christmas distribution begins.
"I would really like to see this become an annual event where we can help the food pantry, you know, each holiday season," Matt said. "And, you know, visually, I envision an array of skeletons, perhaps triple the amount we have, you know, the whole foreground of the yard, and really becoming a thing, a spectacle that people can come and see and enjoy with their kids, year after year after year."
For now, Taylor Stiff, Joe Marrow and the Grisbones continue their charitable performance, proving that even skeletons can have heart.
"I hope that I have to empty those things three or four times, is my hope," Betsy Fredericks said.
The festive food drive runs through Dec. 14. Donations can be dropped off at 1197 Berkshire Court from 5 to 10 p.m. nightly.
