Overland Park man uses a bit of Halloween and Christmas to remind people to wear masks during pandemic
Sometimes the subtle message just isn’t enough.
It’s hard to miss Kenneth Torres’ not-so-subtle message on the front yard of his house on Hadley Street in Overland Park.
His yard is covered with Halloween skeletons and Christmas decorations. Not that Torres is overly eager to celebrate those holidays months early. Torres has a very serious message he wants to convey, but, he says, he wanted to do it playfully.
Torres’ display features a grouping of skeletons with signs that say “Don’t end up like us! Wear your mask!”
Across the driveway there’s a youthful female mannequin standing and another sitting that looks to be near death. The young mannequin holds a sign saying “I used to look like this but I didn’t wear a mask.” The sitting mannequin has a sign that says “Don’t end up like me. Wear a mask.”
Torres also put up Christmas decorations with messages that say if we wear masks now, we can all enjoy happy holidays together, without losing loved ones.
“(It’s) just my way of kind of having some fun and trying to get people aware that we don’t want to end up like this. We’ve lost too many lives as it is already. Let’s get this under control so we can go back to life as normal.”
“Having a science background, I know how important this is.”
Torres is a retired plant cell biologist with a Ph.D. who sold his plant biotech company a couple of years ago. He was bored of sitting around, he said, and thought this project would pass the time until it was time for fall decorations.
“I know some people consider it morbid,” Torres said, which is why he wanted to put humor into it. It might be dark humor, but this is his way of getting a point across. “It’s a serious point, let’s take this seriously.”
There are people who consider COVID-19 a hoax, and Torres said he knows it. However, sometimes when he’s out in the yard, people will give him a thumbs up or stop and take pictures. Torres said he appreciates those people who take the virus seriously.
