Hopping down bunny trail with deer

It's not Peter Cottontail hauling the Easter baskets at Emma Feiste's house.

The two decorative deer in Feiste's lawn prove that while holidays may come and go, it's always deer season in Fruitland.

On Good Friday, the deer boasted pastel ribbons and Easter baskets around their necks -- and a yellow ribbon on top of their heads to show support for the troops overseas.

After Easter, they'll wear red, white and blue for Memorial Day. On Halloween, they'll be dressed in witch's hats. And so it goes.

"I do it all the time," said Feiste, who lives on U.S. 61. "It doesn't matter what season it is. People I don't even know say 'Don't stop decorating. We like to see what the deer will wear next.'"

Feiste is a lot like Barb Wendel, who lives at 510 Old Cape Road.

Wendel's yard is decorated with a small, wooden cross that is highlighted by a purple cloth and Christmas -- no -- Easter lights. There is a hand-painted, wooden Easter bunny and a homemade wooden angel decoration hanging from the porch banister.

Wendel said she started decorating when she ran a daycare at home.

"The kids loved it," she said.

And the tradition carried on.

She has St. Patrick's Day lights, Halloween lights, Christmas lights -- not a holiday goes by without yard decorations.

She said there were a few holidays more than a year ago that she didn't put out decorations because her husband was recovering from open-heart surgery.

"Different ones said they missed driving by and seeing the decorations," she said.