EAST AURORA, N.Y. (WIVB) — For many hours in a day, you can find David Moomaw, a Toy Maker from East Aurora, working on his next creation in his workshop.
“It’s a personal trait, I always over do everything,” said David Moomaw. “Honestly, when I got out of college in ’73, it was the automotive industry or the aerospace industry and that just it was too big of a pond–it scared me. I never had enough toys so I thought let’s try that.”
After school, he worked as a toy maker with Fisher Price for 17 years, before coming an independent consultant in the ’90s. Throughout the years after, he’s created more than 1,000 toy samples for companies like Mattel, and others.
Then, one Halloween, he decided to dust off and crawl out one of his inflatable creations.
“And that was the beginning,” said Moomaw. “Then a web, then after the web, it was a glow in the dark web, after the web, it was glow in the dark spider–so it just sort of went on.”
Every year, Moomaw’s display attracts tens of thousands of people, and this year, children can wake up a new magical beast, all with the touch of a magic button.
“It only works for small kids,” he joked. “If they push the button, he wakes up, comes out of his cave, he’ll come out and do some of his tricks, and he doesn’t blow fire, he blows bubbles. This year was the first time I’ve literally seen jaws drop.”
Visitors are encourage to come take a look later in the day, and in the evening to see the full show and other displays throughout the village.
This year, Moomaw and his ‘Halloween Design Club” have created the “EA Spooky Way” which maps out other homes that are in the Halloween spirit.
“We think we’re building more of a community that way, so it’s a lot of fun.” he said.
If you would like to come see his display, the Spider runs 2 to 9 p.m., and Honknose the Dragon runs 5 to 8 p.m. His house is located at 423 Oakwood Ave., in East Aurora.
When visiting you can also help support and give back to the community, as he collects donations to FeedMore Western New York.
Hope Winter is a reporter and multimedia journalist who has been part of the News 4 team since 2021. See more of her work here.