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Published Friday, October 30, 2009 in Local

Photo by Jeffrey Leo

Carrie Knight and her daughters, Abbey and little Aubrey, set up Halloween decorations in the front yard of their College Street home while dad Philip puts up the mast on the pirate ship, in the background.

Pirate ship, musical crew sail into College Street

By Jeff Bishop

The Times-Herald

Philip and Carrie Knight moved to their 100-year-old College Street home in Newnan the week before Halloween a little over 10 years ago.

"We walked around the yard, looking at the house, and we really knew nothing at all about Newnan," said Mrs. Knight. "And then this woman walks over and about five minutes into the conversation, she says to us, 'You know, if you like Halloween, it's really, really big here.'"

That was just what the Knights wanted to hear.

"My husband and I looked at each other and said, 'Oh, this house is sold!'"

That first year the Knights gave out candy to about 500 trick-or-treaters, and "we had never seen anything like it," she said. "I was blown away. It was like what you'd see in the movies. And it's just grown and grown since then."

Part of the reason all the kids want to stop at the Knights' place these days probably has something to do with the life-size pirate ship sitting in their front yard.

They said the popularity of the "Pirates of the Carribean" movie series is what originally inspired them when they first constructed a pirate ship several years ago.

"We didn't want to do anything that would be too scary for the kids," said Mr. Knight. "Even though there are skeletons, they're in pirate costumes, so it doesn't seem as scary."

Their now 4-year-old daughter Abbey was "the catalyst" for such a massive undertaking, the Knights admitted. She is in love with the skeletons that are decked out in pirate costumes that line the top of the ship.

"They're automated. They all dance and sing," said Mrs. Knight. "Our daughter knows all the dances. She can imitate them and sing along. Even when it's not Halloween, she asks if they can come out and dance for her."

When they first constructed a pirate ship two years ago, "it was just two days before Halloween when it went up, and then we just tore it right down again," he said. "We wanted to do it quickly because it makes such a mess in the neighborhood."

"The neighbors said they were surprised because, one day, they're driving down College Street and everything's just normal. And then the next day, all of a sudden -- BOOM! There's a ship there!" said Mrs. Knight. "My husband's pretty good. He's fast. He works very hard."

Last year the Knights constructed "more of a wharf" than a full-fledged ship, since they had a new baby.

"We weren't going to do anything much at all, but then we had all these kids come by, asking, 'You're not doing the big pirate ship this year?' So we decided we had to do something," she said.

"Sometimes when you do something like this once, it becomes kind of expected. People look for it," she said.

"We had 1,500 trick-or-treaters last year, and that is no exaggeration," said Mrs. Knight.

In fact, people have been driving from as far away as Atlanta to take a gander at the Knights' pirate ship.

"And we have a lot of people slow down and cruise by the house to look at it," she said. "Even the school buses do that. The kids cheer. They just love it."

So this year Mr. Knight decided to pull the ship out of storage a week early, which gave him the time he needed to add a lot of "bells and whistles," such as the masts and cannons, which are constructed from PVC pipe.

"We're going to have a fog machine to make it look like the cannons are firing," he said. Some tiki torches will also be placed in the yard to add to the effect.

Thanks to a friend from Costa Rica, the Knights will "even have real parrots this year," he said.

The ship itself is "basically scaffolding," he said, and some old supplies from West building supply.

"Anybody who owns an old house around here has some scaffolding. But putting it all together wipes you out," he said. "We do it for the kids. The kids love it."

Mrs. Knight said that not every kid can go to Disneyland, but they can make it to the corner of College and Wesley streets.

"This is a highlight for a lot of children," she said. "Some kids, maybe they don't have much. But they can come experience this, and it's something to remember."

"Their faces just light up," said Mr. Knight. "That makes it all worth the effort."

The Knights have sometimes talked about putting the ship away for good and "retiring" from Halloween. One can understand that sentiment. Even putting their extensive costuming and candy purchases aside, Mr. Knight had to take a week off from work just to get the ship assembled in time for Halloween. He figures he has nearly 50 hours invested so far in this year's assembly.

"But let's face it. My oldest daughter, she's not going to let us stop," said Mr. Knight. "Even way before Halloween, we start getting the question: 'Daddy, when are you going to build the pirate ship?' We just enjoy it too much. To get that reaction from all these kids -- it's really addictive. Some of them think it's real. And even those who are too old for that, they still think it's pretty cool."

"And let's be honest -- the parents love it, too," said Mrs. Knight. "Just because you're an adult doesn't mean that you outgrow Halloween. Here's a chance to relive childhood. We wouldn't be doing this if we weren't having a good time."

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