Kentucky man's  awesome Christmas display leads to over 1,000 toys donated for tornado victims



A man from Villa Hills, Kentucky is delighting his neighbors with an awesome Christmas display at his home, and using the attention to collect donations for tornado victims in Western Kentucky.

Ralph Mueller's front yard is decorated with a small army of inflatable Christmas characters and a stellar lights display. It's a sight you absolutely cannot miss — some of these decorations are several feet tall and one Frosty the Snowman stands at a towering 18-feet.

In an interview with WKRC-TV, Mueller said that he only started decorating for Christmas two years ago, at the urging of his granddaughter. Last year, he added 49 inflatable Christmas characters to his collection. This year he has 100 decorations. Everyone from Frosty the Snowman to Mickey Mouse, Santa Claus, of course, and even the Grinch is represented.

"Whether you're young or old, it just puts a smile on everybody's face," said Mueller.

"I've got people driving by and thanking me just for bringing back Christmas," he added, observing that outdoor Christmas decorations have become less popular in recent years.

But the neighbors aren't just stopping by to admire the show. On Dec. 15, Mueller told his Facebook neighborhood group that he would be putting collection barrels out in front of his yard. He said anyone who wanted to visit to see the inflatables could drop off toys and food, which were donated to tornado victims in Mayfield, Kentucky on Dec. 23.

The community was happy to spread some Christmas cheer and give good gifts to those in need.

"They lost everything. It's just so sad," said Nancy Trenkamp, who dropped off toys in one of Mueller's collection bins.

"We've probably got over 1,000 toys," Mueller told WKRC on Tuesday.

He explained that he was inspired to help the tornado relief efforts after his son was deployed to Western Kentucky with the National Guard last week.

"Just seeing him down there and helping out, I figured I could do something to help out too," he said.

Mueller and his family traveled to Western Kentucky on Thursday to deliver the toys and food, becoming a real-life Santa Claus for communities that had their Christmas plans dashed.

"A couple of weeks before Christmas, all the kids are saying, 'Hey, can't wait for Christmas, can't wait for Christmas,' and now they're saying, 'I'm not gonna get Christmas,'" said Mueller.

He added that if donations keep flowing, he'll make a second trip.

Black Lives Matter group invades 'Candy Cane Lane' — streets decorated with Christmas lights to benefit children with cancer — with protest march



A Black Lives Matter group invaded "Candy Cane Lane" on Friday night — a residential neighborhood in West Allis, Wisconsin, decorated with Christmas lights to benefit children with cancer — marching and chanting and shouting through bullhorns at vehicles lined up in the streets to see the displays.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

What is Candy Cane Lane?

Here's a brief history of Candy Cane Lane from its website:

In December,1984, a wonderful group of neighbors living in West Allis, Wisconsin, joined together to collect donations for the MACC Fund — Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer, Inc., in honor of a neighbor's child diagnosed with cancer. The neighbors worked in concert in decorating their homes and encouraged visitors to make a small donation as they drove through the festively enhanced neighborhood. All of the money raised went to supporting research, treatment, and the eventual discovery of a cure for childhood cancers and related blood diseases.

What happened Friday night?

Several videos showed the protesting group — the People's Revolution — marching through the brightly lit streets chanting "Black lives matter!" "No justice! No peace!" and "Whose lane? Our lane! Whose streets? Our streets!" The People's Revolution has protested for months in Wauwatosa, as member of the group is accused of firing a gun at former police officer Joseph Mensah, Wisconsin Right Now reported.

The outlet said the Milwaukee County Crime, Fire, and Police News page on Facebook contained comments about the protest. "Yes, they came through. Did not obey any traffic rules," one woman wrote, Wisconsin Right Now noted.

One man added, "My significant other lives on Candy Cane Lane, and she just texted me – BLM just crashed Candy Cane Lane! …they were blasting music so loud that it made her windows and walls shake and scared the crap out of her dogs," the outlet said, adding that the man also had an issue with the group disrupting a charity: "If you don't have a problem with this, then not only are you part of the problem, you are also a Class A Asshole!!!!"

Here's a video of the march:

TPR- Day 204- MERRY CHRISTMAS CANDY CANE LN #neverstopvoices #independentmedia youtu.be

Wisconsin Right Now also said a man shared a post from a friend:

So my son and I were playing in the living room, and we heard very loud music and people chanting from the outside. We open up the front door to see what all the commotion was about. It was a "Black Lives Matter" march going up and down my block and through Candy Cane Lane. These people saw my "Back the Badge" sign and "Trump 2020" sign and began to shout at us. They began to give us the middle finger and shouted, "F*** YOU F*** THE POLICE F*** TRUMP!" Uhm really? I am holding my ONE year old son in my arms. Glad to see how "peaceful" and "respectful" these people and protests really are lol. What a bunch of pieces of s**t.

Available videos so far don't depict such a confrontation — but the latter YouTube video does show a woman apparently confronting the group in the street:

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Mariah Smith shared a livestream of the march during which she acknowledged that several non-participants were "mad as hell" at the group. Prior to the march she asked her comrades, "Ready to make some f***in' noise, man?"

What did police have to say?

"Last evening, starting at about 6:40 pm, we received a handful of calls of a protest group moving through Candy Cane Lane. The callers indicated that the group was causing traffic congestion and noise disturbances. West Allis officers responded to the area and monitored the situation. There was heavy traffic congestion related to Candy Cane Lane. There were reports of protestors walking in the roadway and using a bullhorn. Officers did not observe any violence or vandalism. No arrests were made and no citations were issued," police told Wisconsin Right Now.

What did supporters of the protest have to say?

Never Stop Media LLC defended the People's Revolution group: "The group planned the march through Candy Cane Ln with the intent to bring awareness to the neighborhood and stand up for [people of color] who live in the area. Marchers were seen dressed in holiday spirit and of course Santa made a special appearance for the occasion."

In addition, Never Stop Media noted:

In our video it clearly shows demonstrators walking down the center of the streets to not impede any of the vehicles. None of these vehicles were surrounded, stranded or harassed. Posts claiming that TPR harassed people who did not approve of the protest are also not true. You can see in our video posted that when met with distain, protestors wished those people a Merry Christmas & Happy Holiday with of course the chant that "Black Lives Matter" as they continued to march. Posts also claim that TPR was terrorizing children who were looking at the holiday decorations. In the video posted by us it clearly shows families, both black and white with children showing full support for the group with parents and children yelling black lives matter. When demonstrators approached organizers (also standing in the streets) who were collecting donations they were asked to go around because they were trying to collect money. Members of TPR formed a wall as the rest of the group walked past so that organizers could collect their donations without interruption. This can also be seen in our video. At no time were donations interrupted for the MAAC Fund.

Child shouting 'Black lives matter!' with adult encouragement during Candy Cane Lane protestImage source: YouTube screenshot

The People's Revolution marches also chanted, "We have every right to be in these streets!" and "All lives don't matter until black lives matter!"

Christmas lights on home ripped as 'harmful,' 'reminder of divisions ... systemic biases.' Then anonymous critic gets holiday haranguing.



A Minnesota couple received an anonymous letter Monday criticizing the Christmas light display on their St. Anthony home as "harmful," Fox News noted.

Say what?

The letter to Kim Hunt and her husband started out like so: "I couldn't help but notice your Christmas lights display. During these unprecedented times, we have all experienced challenges which casual words just don't describe what we're feeling. The idea of twinkling, colorful lights are a reminder of divisions that continue to run through our society, a reminder of systemic biases against our neighbors who don't celebrate Christmas or who can't afford to put up lights of their own."

It adds that "we must do the work of educating ourselves about the harmful impact an outward facing display like yours can have."

Here's a look at the letter — and the "harmful" Christmas lights:

ICYMI: Here's the actual photo of the "offensive" Christmas lights... https://t.co/jIl9mj2L7A
— CrimeWatchMpls (@CrimeWatchMpls)1607434583.0

The letter writer then says, "I challenge you to respect the dignity of all people, while striving to learn from differences, ideas, and opinions of our neighbors. We must come together collectively and challenge these institutional inequities. St. Anthony is a community welcoming of all people, and we must demand better for ourselves."

What did Hunt have to say?

Hunt told Fox News that she and her husband were "very surprised, shocked, and saddened by the letter" — particularly since the lights give her a sense of "joy" when she returns from her job as a nurse working with COVID-19 patients.

She added to the cable network that "these times we live in are so divisive" and that it's "a sad statement that Christmas lights have to be a target."

"We need to be inclusive of everyone, and let's face it, a lot of people put up holiday lights or decorate their homes for other occasions to bring beauty and happiness to what can be a very ugly world," Hunt told Fox News, adding that three other homes in the area have received the same letter.

What did observers have to say?

As you might expect, the letter writer got an earful from Twitter users who saw the Crime Watch post containing the photo of the letter.

Fox News said former Baltimore Ravens quarterback Derek Anderson observed: "Saw this coming a long time ago. 'If I can't have it nobody can' or 'if they have it we all deserve it' that's not life."

Others had similar reactions:

  • "Ironic that the letter writer is doing exactly what they accuse the homeowner of doing — not being accepting of others," another commenter said. "I would redouble my lights."
  • "People just need to stop already!!" another user declared. "If I lived in that neighborhood I'd help the owner put up even more lights."
  • "If I were the recipient of that letter, I would put up THREE TIMES the amount of lights that I originally had put up," another commenter noted.