Ron Acord, a transplant from Indiana, has gone all out for spooky season
By Angela McGill
In White Sulphur Springs there is now an eerie feeling of frights, adventure, and small-town fun on Spring Street thanks to Ron Acord. Acord, who has recently moved from Indiana to White Sulphur Springs to work at the casino in The Greenbrier Resort, has gone all-out this year on Halloween décor adorned across nearly all of his property on the usually sleepy Spring Street.
Ron, who has been in the casino business for 26 years, said that all of his family is from Beckley, but that he moved away when he was young. Coming back to West Virginia to work at The Greenbrier was a great opportunity to return to the mountain state.
“I always wanted to be here, but at that time there was nothing here for me financially. The Casino was a chance to come back home and I jumped on it,” he explained. “In my mind, West Virginia has always been home.”
He is certainly making a “homecoming” with gusto this fall, as visitors can spot from yards away his extensively spooky setup. Not only are there massive skeletons, but also werewolves, a talking witch, a scary scarecrow passing out candy, and much more! He wants everyone to come by with their trick-or-treaters this year to enjoy the scene, and of course, the candy. The décor and old-time scares come from Ron’s passion and enjoyment he has always had for Halloween, his favorite holiday.
“What I like about Halloween is it gives you a chance to be someone else for a day, you can pretend and the world pretends with you. Even a person who usually isn’t outgoing, they put a mask on and all the sudden they have personality, I just love it and always have, something in the air and the leaves start falling, there’s something about Halloween.”
However, after he started decorating, he learned that Spring Street itself is not usually a popular trick-or-treating hub.
“I started putting things out, and my neighbor said that people don’t trick-or-treat here. I asked why, and he said, ‘They just don’t come here.’ I’m going to change that. I’m going to deck this thing out and people are going to talk. I’m going to get them to start coming up and down through here, I know they go to Villa Park and I’m right beside it, no reason to limit things just to that area. I want a bunch of trick-or-treaters.”
He said he hopes to help brighten kids’ spirits as they continue to deal with a life-altering pandemic. “Since COVID it’s been a downer, kids being yanked in and out of school, it’s been rough on them,” he said. “I figured you know, why not go big?”
Ron did just that, he went big. This Halloween stop by Spring Street, let the trick-or-treaters enjoy as Ron will be handing out candy – and bring a camera, you won’t want to miss this!
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