Rescue Rangers for a good time and an even better cause

One little boy has ridden his bike past the Darboy Halloween House every night since they first set up their display.

His dad said it’s become part of their nightly routine because the little guy doesn’t want to miss anything.

It’s a good strategy.

You could stand at that yard every night between Labor Day, when they first start setting it up, and Halloween, and you still might not be able to take it all in.

The Darboy Halloween House started out big, and gets even bigger and better every year.

In addition to entertaining their community, the folks behind the Halloween House aim to support it in more tangible ways. This year, as in years past, they are collecting donations for the St. Joe’s Food Pantry and they’re going big in that effort too.

Their goal is to gather a ton of non-perishable food items. As of yesterday, they had collected more than 900 pounds!

A few years ago, the family’s oldest son Justin developed an interest in 3D printing and the annual costumes got even cooler. This year, they are the Rescue Rangers — Chip, Dale and Gadget Hackwrench. Justin designed and printed the heads, and then painted and styled them. He also put together Gadget’s plunger crossbow. The results would have made Walt Disney himself proud.

In addition to hosting their Halloween House, the crew take its show in the road. The have been to Halloween festivities at Bookwarm Gardens and Heritage Hill as the Rescue Rangers and to the Fox Crossing Trick or Treat Trail as the Ghostbusters.

They have nightly costume changes as well. Chip and Dale often disappear, slip into their stilts and a completely different costume so they return as impossibly tall clowns.

If you want to see a very cool display and possible Rescue Ranger or Tall Clown sighting, check out the Darboy Halloween House at N9370 Exploration Avenue in Appleton. The Tall Clowns are a big hit. You can check out the daily updates on the Darboy Halloween House Facebook page to see when they might make an appearance.

If you can, bring a little something for the St. Joe’s Food Drive. The season of treats might get tricky for some families in the community if they lose access to their benefits. They and the food pantries that support them could use all the help they can get.