The home of Bill Miller and his family at 1502 Second Ave. S. has been a joy to behold every year at Christmas for more than a decade.

Every holiday season, the property at a highly visible intersection has been filled with bright lights and all kinds of decorations, including big inflatable versions of snowmen, candy canes, and Santa Claus. While lots of people of all ages enjoy the decorations, perhaps no one likes them more than Miller’s 10-year-old grandson. Connor Brokaw is living life to the fullest despite his epilepsy and spina bifida. During this time of year, one of his favorite things to do is help his grandfather flip the switch that inflates the decorations.

The happy tradition of lights, decorations and a grandfather and grandson working together to bring so much joy was interupted by some loser – or perhaps multiple losers – who sliced into the inflatable decorations. At least five of them have been cut. A reindeer sleigh was slashed the first night it was out. Frustrated, Miller started taking down the decorations. After some folks talked to him, Miller decided to try one last time. But then his 12-foot tall inflatable Santa Claus was slashed.

At that point, Miller was ready to give up and put away the decorations for good.

Then something wonderful happened. The community rallied around Miller.

The Fort Dodge Community Foundation and United Way started accepting donations to help pay for new decorations to replace those that were damaged. The city’s firefighters, whose station is just a couple blocks north of the Miller residence, also promised to buy decorations to replace those lost. They assured the Miller family that if anything happens to those decorations, they will just go and get some replacements.

In short, the losers who like to slash decorations are not going to win.

This whole sequence of events sounds like a plot for a Christmas special on TV. But it is all very real, and it shows just what the Fort Dodge community is really like. Yes, we have had some crimes and tragedies in Fort Dodge, but they do not represent the whole of this community. This is a town where people come together to support each other through good times and bad. It is a town that cheers its young people on the playing fields and on the stages. It is a town that stacks up food items to help those who need it. It is a town where people will chip in some money to preserve a beloved Christmas display.

The folks that do all those things and more are the real Fort Dodgers, and they will always outnumber the knuckleheads who wreck Christmas displays.