Deck the lawns, homes

AUBURN - In the 11 days between Charles Schulz's retirement from drawing the Peanuts cartoon strip and Christmas day in 1999, Rosina Wilczek had sketched out seven members of the gang, painted them with her husband's help and placed the wood cutouts on her lawn at the Auburn city corner of North Marvine Avenue and Franklin Street.

Another inspiration for the creation of the effigies who have caroled on her lawn, was her young son's love of the piano-playing Schroeder character.

“She couldn't find any Schroeder character, so she made all of them,” said Alex, 9, who likes Schroeder because “he's an expert piano player.”