Lighting up La Center

Drive into downtown La Center and one will notice twinkling lights lining the roadways, businesses decorated in lights of all colors and wreaths on doorsteps to spread Christmas cheer. 

However, off in the distance, one house shines brighter than the rest. With stars atop each and every tree and thousands of lights brightening the dark sky, Brian Miller brings the Christmas spirit to La Center.

“I started about 20 years ago and it just grew and grew,” he said about the twinkling winter wonderland that is his property. “And after my mom passed, it just got extravagant.”

Miller said each year he makes the lights so extravagant so his mother can see the light show from heaven. 

“That’s why the trees, you notice, the trees are always the most detailed out of everything here,” he said. “I haven’t fallen out and slipped yet. Something keeps me from hitting the ground.”

Each year, Miller strings and puts up his entire light show by hand on a ladder without renting any lifts or equipment. 

“My starting day is usually Halloween,” he said, noting that the lights stay up until New Year’s Eve. “I like to start on Halloween because when the kids go trick-or-treating I can scare them from the tree.” 

From year to year, Miller’s inspiration changes and so do his lights. Drive by his illuminated house next year and you will experience a completely different show. 

“I keep hanging (lights) until I get my inspiration as to where I’m going to put ‘MOM,’” he said, describing how each year he lights up the word “MOM” somewhere on his property and he’s not done hanging lights until it’s up. Miller said every year the word “MOM” gets brand new Christmas lights. 

“All the locals, they know that when they see ‘MOM’ on the roof, I’m done,” he said. 

While the organization of the lights may be different each year, a famous Christmas guest makes sure to visit every year and sits on the property nightly ringing jingle bells and granting the neighborhood with a bellowing “ho ho ho.” 

“I love it seeing the little kids come up with their parents. They’re afraid at first, you know, but then they don’t want to leave,” said John Regal, who was dressed in the iconic Santa red robe and hat. “All it takes is one kid to make it worth it.” 

Each year, as kids come to tell Santa what they want for Christmas, another iconic Christmas figure makes an appearance. 

“Every year, I drive up to the Ape Caves and pick up the real Frosty,” Miller said, explaining how he drives an empty trailer up into the forest and fills it with snow. 

He said he doesn’t go pick Frosty up until he gets a phone call. 

“He likes to come down here. He’s a troublemaker though. One day he’s here and the next, poof, he’s gone,” he said.  

Miller said his Christmas cheer doesn’t go unnoticed in the community as people will donate their Christmas lights to him to see his display grow. Miller said he used to always look forward to his friend Alan Morrison because Morrison would drive up and call Miller “Mr. Christmas.” 

Along with his old friend, Miller said he gets letters from people in the community talking about how much they love his display and how they look forward to it every year. 

“It’s really gratifying and humbling,” he said. “I almost feel a little obligated but not obligated because I’m going to do it anyway. But, it’s nice to know that there’s so many people out there that really enjoy it.”

While the Christmas display lights up the town like a literal Christmas tree, Miller said it’s not all fun. Each day, the breaker under his house flips three to four times and he needs to climb under and flip it back. Along with this, there is the December electric bill. 

“It’s gotten a lot better because it’s all LEDs,” he said. “But it used to jump almost a thousand dollars for one month.” 

One year, Miller ran a generator to keep his display going while the power was out. 

“I fired my generator up and lit up the big tree and I got so many phone calls here from everybody coming into La Center and all they could see is a total blackout except for my house,” he said. 

But to Miller, it’s all worth it when a kid comes by to see Santa and La Center is filled with Christmas cheer. 

“I do it for the kids, it’s all for the kids,” he said while smiling and petting his “reindogs,” Dugan and Holly. “Sometimes I get a headache from smiling so much.”