The Halloween architect of Goldschmidt Crescent

Scott Dunstall awards Gayle Asselstine in 2023 for winning The New Hamburg Optimists/New Hamburg Board of Trade “Home Halloween Decorating Contest” open to all residents in Wilmot Township. Photo courtesy of Scott Dunstall

By Scott Dunstall

It started as a small Halloween party decoration display. Ten years later, it’s a full-scale neighbourhood phenomenon.

Gayle Asselstine has become something of a local legend – especially if you’re a kid in Baden. I met Asselstine last year around this time when I was president of the New Hamburg Optimist Club. One of our initiatives was co-sponsoring a “Best Home Halloween Decoration” contest. Entries were posted to the Show Us Your Wilmot photo-sharing Facebook page, and winners were determined by community reactions. It wasn’t a surprise who won. 

Asselstine is a single mom of two boys, both in their late teens and early 20s. By day, she’s an accountant with experience at Blackberry, and currently works as a fractional chief financial officer for two start-ups. One is a multinational based in New York, the other a local business run by a female entrepreneur in her late 20s. She doesn’t just do the financials – she genuinely invests in the success of these ventures. She’s especially passionate about supporting women carving their own paths. 

But that’s just one side of her. What makes Asselstine’s story fascinating is the contrast. We tend to assume financial professionals are all spreadsheets and caution tape – safe, practical, maybe even creatively limited. Asselstine destroys that notion completely.

What began as a low-key effort to add a little atmosphere to her Halloween street party soon turned into something more after she noticed the reactions. Her first full display had people stopping on the sidewalk and even knocking on her door to ask how she’d created such realistic effects. That reaction lit a spark. 

The next year, she upped the ante. Every display built more buzz, more wonder and more foot traffic. I visited her house again this year on Goldschmidt Crescent, tucked behind the castle in Baden, and I’m still processing what I saw. I promised not to reveal the theme – no spoilers allowed – but it’s wild. Think creatures emerging from her lawn, some guy walking a plank and absolutely no room for a car in her driveway or garage until after the 31st. Every inch is dedicated to the display. Can’t tell you what it is and it’s making me batty – get it? 

And here’s the kicker: she builds it all herself. No crew. No designers. Just Asselstine, a bunch of shipping pallets, pool noodles, hot wax melts and a very active imagination. She sources materials from Halloween outlets and hardware stores alike. Her workshop looks like a cross between a construction site and an art studio, and it’s active year-round. Halloween isn’t a seasonal hobby for her. It’s creative therapy – her way to recharge and stay connected to something deeply personal. 

She’s self-taught. No background in set design. No online courses. Just a willingness to try something new and keep building on it. Her garage is full of partially completed projects, and she never really declares a display “finished.” There’s always something more she could do. Always one more detail to tweak. She says she doesn’t sleep. She sleeps even less at this time of the year just thinking through ideas and how to execute and create.

To anyone who visits her street, please be watchful of kiddos and parents and please also consider something esle. She estimates that she spends at least $3,000 per year! What would she normally be paid for a consulting hour as a skilled and seasoned accountant? For the hours she commits to this, I could buy something new and shiny for my driveway.  

She does not want or ask for compensation. I’ve met her. She would never allow or consider it because it’s always been for herself and the community, unless it was for a special group or organization important to her. She has kept a donation spot for a group or cause that has meaning. This year, she has one that is very personal to her. On the display near the sidewalk will be a donation spot for McMaster Children’s Hospital (See QR code below to donate). 

Enjoy the scary fruit from the work of this extraordinary woman in our community.