GREAT FALLS – Tony Hering has loved Halloween his whole life: “I was nine years old when I saw the first movie, ‘Halloween.'”

Great Falls couple puts big emphasis on holiday decorations

He knows that the best way to share your love for something is to show it.

“I hope people fall in love with the holiday,” Hering said.

Tony and his wife Lisa’s house is decorated for Halloween, so why stop decorating after October?

“I think we both did,” said Lisa, “Tony always loved Halloween, and I always loved Christmas.

The Herings have been decorating together since they got married. But it’s not just Halloween. They have decorations for every major holiday throughout the year.

“Halloween, Christmas, Thanksgiving… then we do Easter on the 4th of July,” Tony said. “So we’re trying to capture all the seasons.”

The arrangement was simple. Tony decorated the outside of the house and Lisa decorated the inside.

“I do all the fun and cute stuff inside,” Lisa said. “And then he was the one who always did the scary things.”

The tradition started small and simple when Tony recycled his son’s Halloween costumes. Now the total investment is anyone’s guess.

“I don’t even know where to start,” Tony said.

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When it’s not Halloween season, decorations are stored in a narrow space outside Hering’s basement.

“The crawl space is a dungeon of sorts,” Hering said.

Removing the decorations from the crawl space is a full day of work, requiring you to wade through a sink of dirt to access it. It’s the only part of the tradition that might prevent Tony from settling in.

“(I’ll embellish) Until, you know, it gets to the point where it’s not fun going into the crawl space anymore,” Tony said.

Fortunately, that day is still far away.

“It makes me feel good,” Lisa said, “And I think it brings joy to others who come here, too.”

So the teacher couple will continue to make their home a source of joy, holiday after holiday.

“The point is, we just started decorating when Lincoln’s kids were walking home,” Tony said. “They have something to see and it brightens up their day a little bit.”

The Hering house is a reminder of what the holidays are all about.