Goodrich – It is the house on the corner of 10168 West Hegel Road in the village often decked out for Halloween and most other holidays during the year.
Ruthann Wybraniec’s house was built in the village around the early 1940s, and she has been decorating it for Halloween, Christmas and Easter with as many decorations as she can muster up, inside and out, since she bought the home in 1970.
She said there is a reason for all the fuss.
‘When I was a little girl, about 9-years-old, I became infected with scarlet and rheumatic fever, which led to a leakage in my heart. When I had a heart attack, my parents became understandably protective,? she said.
At Halloween, Wybraniec said she got the candy, but wasn’t allowed to go house to house.
‘So I told my family that some day when I am well, I am going to celebrate every holiday to the fullest,? she said.
That’s exactly what she did. Known by adults and children alike as the Holiday Lady, the village townsfolk have come to depend on her holiday spirit, she said.
As she has decorated her house over the past 36 years, she has come to understand how wonderful the people in her town really are.
‘I really appreciate my little town of Goodrich and hope we continue to keep it as quaint as it is now.?
Wybraniec said even now she sees the children who grew up in Goodrich who made it a tradition to go by her house at each holiday.
‘Now they bring their children to see the house that was a part of their own childhood memories,? she said.
For five years Wybraniec said the same lady has come to her house to get a picture of her with her son. ‘So many people come by, somehow I don’t even know her name,? she said. ‘Lots of people bring their cameras, sometimes I have trouble seeing because there have been so many flashbulbs going off all night.?
Reminiscing, Wybraniec said she has been decorating her house all of these years mostly for the children.
‘Once when I was dressed up like a witch and standing outside with my candy cauldron, a little girl asked me how I get into my house because there were so many decorations at my front door. I said, ‘I am a witch and I do magic, so I don’t need a door,?? she said.