For years, Miller has enjoyed bringing the Christmas spirit and holiday joy to passersby on South 15th Street with his holiday lights and decorations.

Miller’s home, a large yellow house on the corner of South 15th Street and Second Avenue South, is well-known around Fort Dodge for its festive holiday decorations. Miller said he’s had the tradition of decorating his yard for the holidays since he bought the house in 2008.

“My whole yard was done,” Miller said. “From one side of the house all the way around to the garage, it was done with lights and everything.”

Every year, people would stop to take pictures of the display, Miller said. He also always tried to keep it looking fresh by picking up new decorations he found online, at local stores or at flea markets.

-Messenger file photo
The Messenger’s 12 Days of Christmas in 2021 included this large array of inflatables located at 1502 Second Ave. S. This house is well known in the neighborhood for their inflatable decor at Halloween also.

But, thanks to unknown vandals, Miller has decided to pack up the decorations.

While those who enjoyed driving by to see what new decorations Miller adds each year may feel disappointed, no one will be more disappointed than Miller’s No. 1 fan — his grandson, Connor Brokaw.

“He loves Christmas,” Miller said.

Brokaw, 10, lives with epilepsy and spina bifida, two disorders that often land him in the hospital.

When he’s not in the hospital, Brokaw is pretty much glued to his grandfather’s side. During the holidays, Brokaw helps his grandpa turn on the inflatables and lights when it starts to get dark out.

-Messenger file photo
The Messenger 13 Days of Halloween in 2017 included this display at 1502 Second Ave. S.

“He looks forward to it every day,” Miller said. “He goes out and says ‘Can we hit the switch yet?'”

It wasn’t just Christmas that Miller decorated for — each October, an array of spooky inflatables, lights and decorations filled the yard for Halloween. For several years, until he couldn’t locate any more inflatables, he also decorated for Thanksgiving.

“This made me happy,” Miller said of his decorating tradition. “So I’ve gotten upset when they started getting vandalized.”

Throughout the 14 years of putting up the decorations, Miller said there’s been a few acts of vandalism, but this year was different. At Halloween, two of the inflatable decorations were slashed into. Miller and his daughter were able to repair the decorations and put them back out, where they remained untouched for the rest of the holiday.

Since Miller set up the Christmas decorations after Thanksgiving, five of the inflatables have been vandalized, he said. His big reindeer sleigh was slashed on the very first night it was set up. After a couple other vandalisms, Miller decided to start taking down the decorations. However, after hearing some questions and concerns from members of the community who noticed, he decided to try it one last time and put out more decorations.

Last weekend, Brokaw fell ill and the family went with him to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. When Miller returned to Fort Dodge on Monday, he found the 12-foot inflatable Santa he had added had been slashed.

Miller said he decided to take down the remaining decorations because he can’t afford to keep replacing them, and it takes a lot of time and energy to repair the ones that are damaged by vandals. He said he’s also concerned that the vandals will start to try to cut the electrical wires on the decorations, which could be dangerous.

“If I put them back up, they’re just going to continue to do it again,” he said. “Apparently they just don’t like Christmas.”

Most of all, Miller doesn’t want to risk damage to Brokaw’s favorite decoration — an inflatable of Santa Claus in a fire truck.

“He loves fire trucks and ambulances,” Miller said of Brokaw.

Brokaw, who is still at the Mayo Clinic, doesn’t yet know about the decommissioning of the decorations.

“He’s really going to be upset,” Miller said. “And I’m upset because he doesn’t have his fire truck (decoration) out there.”

Though he has doubts he’ll be able to recoup any costs of the damages from the vandals, Miller said he has filed a report with the Fort Dodge Police Department, and he asks that anyone who might have seen something to call the police.