He wasn ’ t going to do it this year . Not all-out , anyway . “ I wasn ’ t going to quit completely ,” Walt Kiser says . “ I ’ m not going to be the Grinch or anything .” The plan , instead , was to shoot for something somewhere between the loveable , green curmudgeon and Clark Griswold . But the kids , he says . The kids changed the plan . “ All the kids in the neighborhood came to me and said , ‘ Please , Mr . Walt ’ — they call me ‘ Mr . Walt ,’” Kiser says . “ The kids said , ‘ Mr . Walt , please don ’ t do that . Please don ’ t quit .’ “ The kids put the pressure on me .” And “ Mr . Walt ” folded . He says he wasn ’ t really ready to let go anyway . So , he ’ s back at it — climbing roofs and positioning things just so . And in December , Kiser ’ s annual Christmas extravaganza will once again light up his Grandview neighborhood . For one last time .
• • • “ One snowman , one Santa and two lit candles ,” Kiser says . “ That ’ s how it all got started .”
It was 1980 when the Wyoming County native decided to put a few decorations outside his single-wide trailer in Oceana .
“ I ’ d always been enthused with Christmas ,” he says . “ I always loved the lights and it just seemed like it brought the spirit out more in people .”
Kiser can pinpoint the exact moment that sparked his own Christmas spirit .
“ When I was growing up , we didn ’ t have a whole lot and I remember going around New Richmond , looking at the lights and thinking , ‘ Man , I wish I could do that .’”
He was particularly enthralled by a set of reindeer on display in a neighbor ’ s yard .
“‘ When I get married ,” he recalls saying , “‘ I ’ m going to do that . I ’ m going to have me a nice Christmas display .’”
Kiser ’ s Christmas collection grew quickly , and when he moved into a new home , it took off .
“ I would start decorating in late October and finish by the first Friday or Saturday in December ,” he says .
By then , the snowman , Santa and two lit candles were joined by thousands of lights and hundreds of blow molds — the popular hollow plastic Christmas decorations seen on lawns for decades .
Kiser ’ s collection increased each year , particularly with visits to his brother ’ s home in Detroit .
During those trips , he ’ d visit Bronner ’ s CHRISTmas World , in nearby Frankenmuth , Mich .
“ It ’ s the world ’ s largest Christmas display ,” Kiser says . “ They have over 40 acres of nothing but Christmas , so I ’ d make a trip every year and buy as much as I could afford .”
38 ❖ SOUTH ❖ NOVEMBER - DECEMBER ' 22