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‘Mr. Halloween’ mission to feed the hungry
A Farmington man’s home is on the city’s Halloween tour map, but he uses this spooky holiday to collect food donations for those in need.
FARMINGTON, Minn. (FOX 9) - A huge Halloween attraction in Farmington is also helping to feed people in the city. It’s also a labor of love for a widower, honoring his late wife.
Jon Brimacomb is known as "Mr. Halloween" and you can see why when you take a look at his front yard.
If children make it through the gauntlet of spooky characters, they’ll get treats. But at his house, more food comes in than goes out.
Brimacomb sets up his fright fest every day, and it's driven by love. His love of Halloween first earned him the nickname Mr. Halloween at work.
"Once it got to October, then my name would change from Brimacomb to B-o-o macomb," he said.
He’s spent more than 30 years filling his yard and home with scary characters of his own invention or from movies like "Little Shop of Horrors" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas".
His wife, Suzanne, created the ghost bride and helped turn their holiday hobby into a donation drive.
"When we started collecting food, it was basically my wife’s idea," Boo-macomb said. "She really did deal with the people side of things, and she had this love for everybody."
They collected about 50 cans of food that first year.
"We thought we were making it," he laughed.
The donations and decorations grew together, but Mr. Halloween stepped up his game after Suzanne died in 2020. He does it all in her honor now.
Last year, Farmington added the home to its Halloween Havoc Tour map, and he collected 936 pounds of food. This year, it’s already stacking up to be a bigger donation.
"We're going to try to get to 1,000 pounds, and I think we've got a good start," he said.
On Nov. 1, the decorations come down, and the donations go to the Farmington Food Shelf, as they prepare for one of the busiest times of the year.
"They have called me a couple of times," Boo-macomb said. "Being that they're low on food, and they're wondering if I'm still doing it."
Folks at the food shelf told FOX 9 that this food drive is really a treat, and the love is spreading.
It seems Mr. Halloween inspired other folks to do this kind of reverse Halloween, so they’re expecting other, smaller donations as well.
Find Mr. Halloween at 18657 Euclid, Farmington. And see the city's full Halloween Havoc Tour list here.