‘Jughead’ Returns to Somerset New and Improved

Last year, Melissa Morgado of Somerset had everyone talking about her massive holiday-themed creation on Pierce Lane. A snowman’s head, standing over 9 feet tall and made up of 900 milk jugs, had the entire community in awe of Morgado’s hard work and creativity.

But before “Jughead” could be completed, a terrible storm hit the SouthCoast, destroying a months-long endeavor.

Seeing Jughead fall was a harsh blow, but with the encouragement of her neighbors and a little help from the community, Morgado has brought Jughead back to life with a couple of improvements.

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Jughead Almost Didn’t Happen

When Jughead got ruined last year, Morgado had no intention of bringing him back, but the community encouraged her to try again.

“I was so close to getting done last year that it just felt overwhelming and exhausting to think about building again, but ever since he went down people would say to me, ‘Are you going to do another one?’ Some people started saving jugs for us, and now, there was a chance I might do it again,” shared Morgado.

Community Rallies Around Jughead

On September 17^th, she put out an empty crate in front of her house for people to donate milk jugs, and in just a few weeks, she was ready to build.

“What took me months last year only took about 4-5 weeks to collect in jugs this year,” she said.

Cumberland Farms in Westport let Morgado fill up her SUV with their empty gallons each week, and neighbors continued to drop off jugs and even supplies to bring Jughead to life.

In 5 weeks, Morgado had Jughead about 80% complete, just in time to give him a Halloween costume.

“We took a break and wrapped (the jugs) in fabric and turned them into a mummy,” said Morgado. “Everybody ate it up, they loved it.”

Jughead Gets Improvements

To avoid any unwanted accidents this season, Morgado pulled out all the stops. She secured him with eight trampoline straps and screwed them into the ground. A rope was intertwined through each jug and secured with hot glue, and her husband added wire spokes for added support.

768 jugs later, Jughead 2.0 stands at 11.5 feet tall and spans 7 feet across her front yard.

“The feedback (from the community) has been incredible,” said Morgado.

Not only does the SouthCoast love Jughead, but so do Christmas lovers nationwide. Morgado’s photo of Jughead has been shared over 4,000 times.

“People everywhere are just falling in love with the story of how the community helped and how we actually did rebuild, it’s been amazing,” said Morgado.

With a little help from the community, Morgado's creation may very well become a SouthCoast staple during the holidays.