HUBERTUS, Wis. — The race of the year is happening as we speak. Forget the Tour De France, this is the Tour De Skull happening right beneath Holy Hill.
The Tour De Skull is the latest installation of Jimmy Zamzow's famous Holy Hill Skeletons display at 5256 State Rd167, Hubertus. These are some of the fastest skeletons in the world. They aren't worried about the wind because it goes right through them.
“I believe there is 135, and I have some more in the back of the house that are coming out yet," he said Tuesday morning.
For the past 24 years, he has come up with new display themes every Fall. The past few Halloweens featured a Dead Man's Party, Surfin' USA, 'Til Death Do Us Part, and Festiskull.
“I used to glue the hair and the helmets or something to a skeleton, and I found out what works the best is screws. So the first time I was drilling a screw into a skull it was kind of a little weird. But now - and sometimes when I'm fixing the old ones, I feel like I'm Dr. Bones where I'm fixing all these skeletons is kind of neat," Zamzow said.
While the themes change each year, one character always makes an appearance - Donald Driver. He’s at the front of the pack. The racers in the back aren’t doing so well. They are in what Zamzow calls the wipe-out zone. They just didn't have enough heart to finish the race. Others couldn't stay up on their bikes because they were two-tired.
Jimmy is adding racing bibs to all the skeletons. You can vote on your favorite and the winner will get the coveted yellow jacket Tour de France winners get. There will also be Sharpies for visitors to name the skeletons.
“But it's got to be clean, and it's got to be something creative like numb-skull," Zamzow said.
The display is on the main road to Holy Hill just two miles from the Basilica which means hundreds of visitors also stop dead in their tracks to see the skeletons. Be sure to wave bone-jour to all the racers when you see them.
“And one really cool thing is oh my gosh the people. I've got to meet - I got to meet already this weekend people from Russia, people from China, people from countries I've never even heard of before which is really cool," Zamzow said.
Along with Donald Driver, there are two other features of the Holy Hill Skeletons that are part of every display. One is the Rainbow Bridge. It's a memorial honoring dead pets. This year visitors can put their pet's photo on a bulletin board. The other recurring theme is Zamzow's push to promote organ donation.
An important feature of every year's display is the Rainbow Bridge which honors dead pets. He also uses his skeletons to promote organ donation.
“As you can see here there’s no organs out here you don’t take them with you and we're all going to end up with skeletons, so I try to promote that because I think it's a good thing," he said.
There is a tip box where you can leave donations to fund next year's display, but it is heavily guarded by a gendarme so don't try any funny business.
The display will be up through the first week of November.
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