Note: Mitch Garner is Public Works director for Allen County. Donita Garner is the Child Advocacy Center coordinator at Hope Unlimited.
When you ask someone what brings on those feelings of the “magic of Christmas” many times they will talk about a favorite song or maybe the feeling they get in gathering with family. When it comes to Mitch Garner, Christmas lights are what brings about that feeling of Christmas.
When asked about what started his tradition of putting lights on anything that didn’t move, Mitch said it all began about 22 years ago.
Mitch grew up with his single mom, Edna Garner, his grandmother, Lena Conger, his twin brother Mike, who is currently a captain in the Army, and two adopted siblings.
Christmas didn’t mean that you got a lot, it just meant you ate well, had lots of friends and family over and laughed a lot.
Edna Garner was a foster parent and day-care provider for over 30 years so the number of children in and out of her doors were quite large. She strived extra hard to help bring the magic of Christmas back into the kids’ lives.
One year Grandma Lena decided to have Christmas at a house she owned out in the county near Piqua. Mitch was told to hang a few strands of lights to create a festive atmosphere outside and to guide their friends and family to where the festivities were located. The next year when Christmas was once again held in town (Iola), Mitch decided to decorate a few trees in the front yard. It got some attention being so close to Casey’s convenience store. 
Every year when the lights would go up the children who happened to be lucky enough to be in the foster care and day care were treated to the magical glow of Christmas. Putting up the tree and that wonderful anticipation of Christmas always began with digging out the lights and the Christmas tree.
In the years following while Mitch and his wife, Donita, have lived on South Third Street, Mitch decided to go full Griswold (from the “Chrismtas Vacation” movie) several years in a row with the assistance of his friends, Brian Ulrich and Steve Taylor. They were able to “stripe” the house with Christmas lights front to back and were even featured in the Iola Register because of the Griswold similarity.
Soon the competition was on with Brian living down the road. They competed to see who could get their lights up first and who would have the most lights. Any given Christmas you would find Brian, Steve and Mitch putting up each other’s lights. Maybe even a few times they would prank each other and unplug a few lights.
Over the years things have changed. Mitch’s Grandma Lena passed away in 2012 and then his mother, Edna, died the following year in 2013.
The tradition of putting up the lights and decorating the yard has continued with the assistance of their children Grace and William. 
One addition to the holiday season is Mitch putting up a single strand of Christmas lights at the Highland Cemetery on the headstones of his mom and grandmother.
He also takes a can of their favorite soda to toast in the new holiday season and thinks of the wonderful holidays of the years past and how they taught him how to appreciate what you have whether you have a little or a lot — family and those who are your family at the moment — mean the most.
