GREENDALE, Wis. — In the Village of Greendale, they're full of surprises. 

Just look up and each one of these tells a story about the people living inside the home.

It's easy to tell who 83-year-old Al Emmons, of Love Thy Neighbor Foundation's, favorite Disney character is. If there was any doubt, just look up at his chimney.

"Mickey looks down to make sure everyone is okay," he said.

Emmons knows, because he is the one that put the famous mouse there.

"I can do anything or create anything. So we became what I call a forensic sculptor," Emmons said. "The people say here's what I want. And they draw it out and then we go out and we put it on your chimney just exactly what they're thinking about."

"It's fun to be sitting like in the kitchen and watching people walk by, and [...] they stop and stare is you know and point.," said Colleen Fechtmeyer.

She still lives in the house she grew up in. Her parents were one of the original families that moved to Greendale in 1938. "With all the rest of the families when the government built us these houses," Fechtmeyer said.

Greendale was one of three towns, and the only one in Wisconsin, built as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's plan to provide affordable housing, create jobs, and it was designed to nurture communities homes.

"The chimneys are old and they aren't being used anymore so the brick starts crumbling. So you have to fix it," Emmons said. "It's about $5,000 to fix the brick. But Al makes you an offer you can't refuse. he does it for $1,500."

Why does he do that?

"To convince them to let me do artwork," he said.

Along with adding her chimney to Emmons's chimney art collection, Fechtmeyer also gives chimney tours.   

"He knows every single story for every chimney," she said. "He remembers every story like it was yesterday. The stories are so interesting, why people have, like, why do I have panthers on my chimney?"

And that's what Fechtmeyer does during Greendale's chimney tours. She tells the stories of a historic town, the people, and a one-of- a-kind chimney artist.