TAYLORVILLE, Ill. (WAND) — He stands in a front yard with his beer raised to the sky and his other hand guiding a disposal system.
But he's not at the Griswold house from "Christmas Vacation." This is the intersection of Poplar and Cheney Streets in Taylorville.
"We've had people literally pull in the yard, shine their lights on it, run across the street [and] take pictures," said homeowner Shannon Wadlow. "It's been crazy."
"He" isn't even really a living thing. Wadlow's masterpiece is a mannequin dressed as "Cousin Eddie" emptying the...waste deposit of the RV.
"[We] found this camper and we decided we were going to do Cousin Eddie's scene," she said.
Wadlow bought the mannequin online. She found the chair on the side of the road in Springfield. The "sled" used by Clark Griswold in the movie? Don't ask how that one was made. Plus, a speaker is playing the "[waste receptical]'s full!" scene on repeat all day and night.
"It's quite fun when people realize there's music going with it," Wadlow said. "It's been a crappy year so we might as well put smiles on people's faces...without smiles, what would we have today?"
The good news for fans of the display? Wadlow says she'll be back with more for next year.
