Halloween House on Hampton Collects Donations for AARF
By: Sasha Bush
The Ashland Beacon
To most people, Oct. 31 represents a night of sweet treats, dressing up in costumes, and running the streets with friends and family. However, for one South Ashland couple, Halloween is a day neither of them will ever forget. Kelley Ingram-Lewis and her husband Jeremey Lewis have always held a special place in their hearts for the ghostly holiday. Kelly Ingram-Lewis shed a little light on the subject, “On Halloween 2019, Jeremey and I got married in our home just before trick or treat was set to begin. We just wore regular clothes to get married and then immediately got into our costumes. He dressed up as an executioner, and my costume made me look as if he had cut off my head. We will both never forget what day our anniversary is because it’s always on Halloween.”
So, what started this love of Halloween? Ingram-Lewis shared, “I’m not sure what started my love of Halloween. It’s such a fun time of year, and the fall weather makes it nice to be outside for the most part. My sister is a big fan as well. She loves all the pretty and fun things. I always loved the scary and creepy side of Halloween such as haunted houses, scary movies, etc. Jeremey likes scary movies too, but we don’t try to do too scary in our yard. I don’t want to scare the little kiddos too much. I always loved dressing up as a kid to go trick or treating, and I guess I just never really outgrew that phase.”
Naturally, if one has a love of Halloween as much as the Lewis couple does, then it’s a no-brainer that you have to find the perfect house on the most perfect street for trick or treating. Ingram-Lewis shared, “When we started looking at houses together in 2016, I found this house and knew it was a prime location for trick or treating. I was already buying Halloween decorations on clearance a few weeks before we closed on our house in November of 2016.”
Luckily, Lewis’s husband is quite the handyman and is always up for whatever task his wife throws at him. “Jeremey just goes along with my hair brain ideas and makes them come to life. He’s super handy,” noted Ingram-Lewis.
It wasn’t until October of 2017 that the Lewis family got to experience what Halloween on Hampton Street was all about. Hampton Street has always had the reputation for being the place to go for the best trick-or-treating experience. Year after year Kelly and her husband continued to upgrade their Halloween game until eventually, they earned a nickname for their house at the corner of Hampton and Ashland Ave… “The Halloween House.” “We like to try to go a bit bigger every year,” shared Lewis.
This year is no different. Halloween House on Hampton is all set for this year’s Halloween festivities. This year they decided to add something a little different to the Halloween setup. “I told my husband I needed a spooky doghouse that I can put in the yard and make it a drop-off spot for supplies. He had it built out of a pallet in about 20 minutes,” Ingram-Lewis explained. She wanted to use the doghouse her husband had built to help out the Ashland Animal Rescue Fund with some much-needed donations. “Since we can generate some traffic on the weekends, we decided to put that to use and offer to collect pet supplies. We did a food drive for the Ashland schools in ‘21 and had good results, so I’m hoping for the same for AARF. We are animal lovers, and I’m a big advocate for adopting over buying a pet.”
Donations will be collected until the end of the month. “We are accepting donations now through October 31. The decorations won’t come down until Nov. 4, so if anyone wants to drop off after Oct. 31 then that will be fine,” shared Ingram-Lewis. Currently, the following items are needed to send to AARF: Purina Dog/Puppy Chow, canned cat food for both cats and kittens, canned Pedigree dog food, paper towels, laundry detergent, Dawn dish soap, slip-lead leashes, and gift cards.
You can drop all donations off at the Halloween House located at the corner of Hampton and Ashland Ave. If you would like to make monetary donations, you can do so by sending them directly to PayPal.com/aarfky. To pay funds directly to a specific vet bill, you can call 606.673.1144. Please mail all checks to AARF, P.O. Box 2061 Ashland, KY 41105.