A pair of Prince George residents were feeling less than joyful after receiving an early Christmas present in their mailbox.
About a week and a half ago, Sandy Mihaljevic noticed something unusual when collecting the mail - a lengthy anonymous letter disparaging the outdoor Christmas display her husband George sets up every year.
The Mihaljevics have lived in their Craig Drive home for the past four years, after more than 25 years in the Hart. And for each of the almost three decades, George has decorated for Christmas
"It first started a little smaller," George said, "but every year you see something you add or change."
Today, the full display includes lights, candy canes, reindeer on the roof and a 12-foot Santa Claus holding court on the lawn.
In their years on the Hart, George said he had never heard anything negative about his decorations.
And since bringing the family down to their new location, the letter was the first he'd heard of a major problem outside of a next-door neighbour who had a concern about the sleigh perched on an adjacent fence, who worked with George to move it to a better location.
The note, simply signed "Neighbours," was upsetting, said Sandy. "That's what's kind of maddening about the whole thing. If they have something to say they could have come and said it to us.
"I don't remember everything it said [they no longer have the note], but it did say that the lights are an eyesore and just because we like them doesn't mean everyone else does," Sandy recalled. It also made mention of the length of time the decorations are up.
George begins setting up the outdoor decorations on Dec. 1 of each year and takes them down (weather permitting) by Jan. 2. The lights are on a timer that comes on at 3:30 p.m. and turns off at 11 p.m.
The decorations are a celebration of Christmas, said George, and at night passing vehicles slow down to take them in.
"They bring the seniors bus around to look at the lights," George said. "They take them all over town, but they make their pass through here, too."
Leaving an anonymous note about the decorations was a form of bullying, added George. "I couldn't care less what my neighbour does. If it bothers me, I look away. Everybody has a right to celebrate in the way they want. Nobody has right to tell them what to do or how to do it."
