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Eight-legged Volkswagen brings Halloween spirit to Centerville

3 min read
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Photos: Jon Andreassi/Observer-Reporter

Matthew, Kelsey and Taryn Pagac stand with the spider Matthew made out of a Volkswagen Beetle.

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Jon Andreassi/Observer-Reporter

ABOVE: A look inside the hollowed-out Volkswagen Beetle shows the keys are still in the ignition.

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Jon Andreassi/Observer-Reporter

The legs of the spider hold the Beetle chassis about eight feet off the ground.

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Courtesy of Matthew Pagac

The legs of the spider were made with whatever pipes and other materials Matthew Pagac had lying around his garage, and then were painted black.

How do you top a 20-foot-tall leg lamp?

For the Pagac family, the answer was with seven more legs.

It has become a tradition for the Pagacs to construct elaborate decorations for Halloween and Christmas since they moved to Centerville six years ago. Last Christmas, Matthew built a towering leg lamp, an homage to the holiday classic, “A Christmas Story.”

As all things spooky and creepy pop up during the Halloween season, Matthew and Kelsey Pagac’s unique lawn decoration this year is a bug – part spider, part Beetle. Volkswagen Beetle, that is.

“This year, we couldn’t figure out how to one-up ourselves, and then a Beetle came up for sale from one of my friends,” Matthew said. “It was way beyond repair, and I decided, ‘Hey, let’s just build a spider out of it.'”

Using what material he had lying around his garage, Matthew fashioned eight legs out of pipe and welded them onto the hollowed-out chassis of the 1961 Volkswagen Beetle. During assembly, the legs sometimes had to be rebuilt, as they could not withstand the weight of the car.

“You need a brace here, need a brace there. There was more measurement and welding and brackets to make it stand,” Matthew said.

The real challenge, however, came when the spider was completed and needed to be moved to the front yard.

“Thank you, by the way, to all of our friends that came and lifted and carried it from the garage,” Kelsey said.

Matthew said it took eight people, two tractors and four hours to get the arachnoid into position.

“It was terrible. We’re deconstructing it in our front yard,” Kelsey said.

The creation stands about eight feet off the ground, making it possible to duck under the legs and stand up inside the Beetle’s body, which still has the keys in the ignition.

Matthew likes to buy and restore Volkswagens, and tries to use them in the decorations. Last Halloween, he used a Beetle to re-create a scene from the film, “Jeepers Creepers.”

Whatever the Pagacs make, people stop to appreciate the handiwork and take pictures. Their creations often become conversation pieces on social media. Matthew said seeing people’s faces light up at the decorations is part of his motivation to keep making them.

“Everybody kind of looks forward to it every Halloween and Christmas,” Matthew said.

It is also an opportunity for them to create holiday memories for their 1-year-old daughter, Taryn, whose first Christmas will always be remembered as the year of the leg lamp.

This year, they have another daughter on the way, due in early December.

What decoration will be associated with their second child’s first Christmas?

“If we knew, we would tell ya,” Kelsey said.

No, they have not figured out what comes next after the Volkswagen spider, but they’re open to larger-than-life suggestions.

“Message us if you have any ideas, because we’re trying to figure something out,” Kelsey said.

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