Mike De Sisti

The Story:

“Where ever I find an empty spot, I put something out,” explains Sally Mattson. Holiday lights, a large inflatable Santa and even a mini-Ferris wheel only scrape the surface of what’s intentionally jampacked on her modest-sized Appleton lawn. No matter the season, Mattson adapts her exhibit. Throughout the year, she spends weeks setting up and taking down her expressions of Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day. It’s her pastime, pure and simple. “People go out to eat, or go dancing, or go out to bars. This is my entertainment.”

My Take:

I had been driving past Sally Mattson’s Appleton home for a good year or so wanting to do a story on her extravagant holiday displays. I finally stopped one day and just knocked on her door. No one was home. So I left a note in her mailbox with my cell phone number and went on my way. To my delight Sally called me back later that afternoon and was more than willing to let me do a story about her.