For the first time since the mid-1960s, Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts gang and their end-of-year shenanigans won’t be seen on network television.
But for those who want to recapture a little bit of the childlike holiday spirit, one house on East Riding Drive is keeping the memory of Peanuts creator Charles Schulz alive with a life-sized display of favorite characters.
At the far north end of the block, tucked away in the township’s Springdale section, the Iuliucci family presents a holiday tableau steeped in nostalgia, thanks to matriarch Karen’s father, Frank Grasso.
“I make all the characters. Aside from this, I made Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” he said. “My other daughter has on her lawn, right now, the Grinch and the Chipmunks.”
Grasso began crafting strictly as a hobby when he was 15, during a time when he had to encounter an advertisement in the local paper and send away for a kit to fuel his artistic needs.
“They’d send you a picture of a snowman and you have to blacken the back of it first, and then put it on cardboard or wood, then do it again before it’s finished. Now I’m 80, and I still do it,” he added.
According to Iuliucci, Grasso first tackled the Peanuts’ gang project about 18 years ago, and all the familiar faces were first displayed outside the latter’s house in Hammonton. The former moved into her current residence in 2003, and it was there, two years later, that the fruits of Grasso’s labor of love found a permanent home.
“My kids are in college now, but when they were little, I liked it because they were (identified with) Christmas, and religious, but in a way the kids can relate to,” Iuliucci noted. “And they told a story very well, so it was relevant to my children’s age group at the time.
“And I’ve always been a Charlie Brown fan,” she added, “so we stuck with it. Now (my kids are) in their 20s and I can’t wait to put (the characters) up every year.”
Both Grasso and Iuliucci lament the fact that none of the usual television specials — Halloween, Thanksgiving or the classic, “Charlie Brown Christmas” — will be broadcast to millions on local television. Iuliucci admitted the specialness of the annual display doesn’t hold any extra meaning or weight because of that fact.
“For me, it’s special because of my dad,” she said.
And because her dad is in the high-risk category for COVID-19, the family isn’t doing its usual holiday gathering, called Manger Day, this year, or letting a flood of people flock to the Iuliucci homestead to savor the sights.
The attention garnered from a Facebook posting on What’s Up in Cherry Hill will have to suffice.
“It’s special and exciting every year. And my neighbors have always thanked us for it,” Iuliucci said. “But when someone caught it and put it on Facebook this year, to see everyone’s positive reactions, that’s what makes me so happy.”
Apparently Grasso’s handiwork is so admired, he had to literally double his effort. As he related, “I had to make another set for my other daughter, who lives in Hammonton. So there’s two sets of these out there.
“It’s something I enjoy doing and I’m happy that they enjoy it.”
