It’sAlways Halloween at Croft’s

DAYTON - When you walk through the front door, you immediately get a creepy feeling. Witches hover in front of you; spiders and skeletons dangle in the shadows; spooky black cats lurk in dark corners.

Halloween is coming, and Croft's Floral and Gifts, Dayton's normally cheerful downtown flower shop, had taken on a haunted quality.

Croft's offers a great selection of Halloween decorations and gifts year round. (Same goes for Christmas stuff.) But when October rolls around, the creep factor builds up. Come in for a homecoming corsage, you may leave with a witch or goblin or a wideeyed skeleton.

Owners Vicky Beckmeyer and her daughter, Cara Watts, want to make sure Touchet Valley residents can find the finest and most unusual holiday decorations available, including specialty ones.

"We have Patience Brewster and Raz," Vicky said. "We try to have some pretty awesome stuff you can't find anywhere else." For Halloween, Croft's has everything from paper pumpkins to ceramic skulls to Halloween cookie cutters.

Beckmeyer and Watts have operated Croft's since January 2007. It's a family affair, and Beckmeyer's husband Bill and daughter Jessica Atwood often help out, as do sons-inlaw and grandchildren.

Beckmeyer is a former corrections officer who moved with her family to Huntsville in 1989. Besides being Croft's floral designer, Watts is the teacher for the Waitsburg Cooperative Preschool, located in the Waitsburg elementary building.

Croft's is a full-service flower shop, offering floral services for weddings, funerals, parties (it's the place to go for helium balloons) and Valentine's dates.

But when you go in, be prepared to browse for all kinds of holiday gifts and decorations.

"We love holidays," said Watts. At Croft's, it shows.