The Weizer sisters and their neighbors usually call it the "spooky path."
It's a small strip of sidewalk that goes between their Hyde Park home and their next door neighbor's on Erie Avenue. Lauren Weizer, 15, says she's always wanted to decorate it for the holidays.
This year – due to the pandemic – she and her sister, 12-year-old Iris, actually had the time to do it.
"It's, like, to brighten everybody's spirits," Iris said. "Because it's been a little bit of a bad year."
Lauren and Iris created a "winter wonderland" with items they found around the house: plates, cardboard boxes, the last of the glitter from their elementary years. They had to "weatherproof" the decorations with cellophane, Lauren said, so rain and snow wouldn't stop the magic. The girls' parents, Erin and Gil Weizer, helped string lights through the trees along the path.
Iris made a Santa letter collection box, shaped like a reindeer. The girls sometimes look through a side window of their house and see neighborhood kids dropping off letters.
Neighbors are dropping off more than letters. Next to the Santa dropbox is a sign that reads: "Welcome to the North Pole.
"The elves are collecting toiletry donations for Shelterhouse to help the homeless people of Cincinnati. Please help us by contributing full and travel size toiletries such as soap, toothbrushes/paste, deodorant, etc."
A clear plastic tub next to the sign keeps filling up, the Weizers say.
"We've been overwhelmed," Erin Weizer said. "We didn't think we would get one bag."
They've filled about a dozen brown paper grocery bags with toiletries, Lauren said. The count as of Friday was 76 deodorants, 126 toothbrushes and 120 tubes of toothpaste. They say they have even more containers of shampoo and soap to donate to Shelterhouse, a homeless shelter on Gest Street in Queensgate. The Weizers say they will continue collecting items through Christmas.
"This year's been hard for everyone and, you know, we live in a beautiful house in a beautiful neighborhood," Lauren said. "And it's, you know, we recognize that a lot of people don't have those luxuries."
She said it's important to give back and is excited to take all of the bags lined up in the Weizers' basement to Shelterhouse the week after Christmas.
"It's really been amazing how everyone has come together to do this," Lauren said.
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