A skeleton is roaming free throughout one Pittsburgh suburb this Halloween season, with a mission for spreading civic pride.
Sir SKelton John of Dormont, a gender-less plastic skeleton that uses they/them pronouns, was “born, raised, and buried on the Golden Mountain,” an affectionate nickname for Dormont. This month, with the help of two long-time, still-living Dormont residents, they have documented their trips around town in an attempt to highlight all the good Dormont has to offer.
SKelton John’s Facebook page says they are “very into their home borough and civic service of all stripes.” Their travels this month have brought them to many of Dormont’s community groups, like the volunteer fire company and community garden, where they posed for photo shoots, sometimes with their skeleton dog Spotty.
One of the two skeleton handlers spoke with Pittsburgh City Paper about the motivations behind the project. SKelton John’s handlers asked to remain anonymous to preserve the integrity of SKelton John’s image.
“We wanted SKelton to seem like a Dormont Old-timer who was more than happy to rediscover all that Dormont has to offer,” they write. “As the description says, they're born, raised, and buried on the Golden Mountain, and will be your tour guide this Halloween season. Their last name is supposed to be a nod/play off of Kelton Ave and the old Kelton School in Dormont.”
The project is family-friendly, which is important to the duo behind the project, they tell City Paper, although things do get a bit more “irreverant” on their Instagram.
“We specifically wanted to highlight the park and pool, lesser-known draws we love, frequent talking points and complaints in the community, and anything that was on the ‘best of’ list in the City Paper this year,” they say. “Honestly, this was mostly just something we wanted to do 100% for ourselves for fun, and if people enjoyed it, all the better! We really wanted it to just be a silly, goofy thing that would bring people some laughs.”
They say SKelton John has been well-received by the Dormont community.
“Dormont doesn't get enough attention (in our opinions) for what a friendly, close community it is, that contains a lot of great (and obviously fun-loving) businesses,” they tell City Paper. “We are so appreciative of the businesses, especially in the first few days, who just allowed us to come in and pose a skeleton and take pictures, completely in good faith that we had the best intentions.”
SKelton John plans to return to his Golden Mountain gravesite at the end of the month, although he may be open to a return engagement next October. So catch him in Dormont while you still can.
