Rural Owatonna holiday display reflects family history

Nancy Levisay grew up with a dad who loves Christmas.

Doug Swan went all out each year when decorating the family farm outside the southwestern Minnesota town of Balatan– so much so, that passing motorists would often slow down or even turn around just to get a closer look.

At the heart of this display stood a wooden Santa, his sleigh, and those tiny reindeer–including Rudolph. Doug crafted the set by hand when he was 17. He copied a pattern onto plywood, cut it all out, then pressed adhesive images onto the surface.

The legs, he said, were in two pieces, and “you could adjust them, so they were running or standing still.”

He put the project together, he said, because his mom always loved decorating for Christmas. Along with lights on the Santa’s sleigh tableau, they always put icicle lights on the house.

But it meant a lot to Doug, too. 

“I enjoy decorating for Christmas,” he said. “That’s my favorite season.”

It’s not surprising, then, that he kept putting up the lights for the family of four children he raised with his wife, Delores.

“The sky lit up by our house because he had so many lights on,” said Levisay, the youngest. 

Now living in rural Steele County with her husband Matt and daughter Brianna, Nancy grew up as her dad’s shadow. She watched him dress up as Santa for the neighbors. Doug and Delores also sang in their church choir.

And every Christmas, they put up all those beautiful decorations, which kept them mindful of the reason for the season.

“I saw the joy it brought to my dad when he set it out,” Levisay said. “The decorating and the joy of sharing with others brought the most joy to him. He would smile from ear to ear.”

When the Swans moved off the farm, the Christmas decorations came with them.

“We had 30 evergreen trees on our property when we moved to town,” Doug said.

And yes, he put lights on every single one. Nine thousand lights took him three weeks to string up.

Over the years, the family's collection included (but was not limited to) Doug’s Santa and reindeer, a lighted snowman on the deck, a collection of giant candy canes, a four-foot wreath on the chimney, and, of course, a Bethlehem scene with a sign that read, “Wise men came to see him.”

“We put them up for close to 60 years,” Doug said. “We kept adding to them every year.”

The Swans spend the winter in Arizona now, living in a retirement community with a group of family members and friends. Doug has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease–so his holiday decorating has scaled down a bit.

Levisay thought about asking her dad for the Christmas decorations but hesitated at first.

“They’re pretty precious. I didn’t want anything to happen to them,” she said.

She needn’t have worried; he wanted her to continue the Swan family tradition.

“I’m real happy that somebody would take it over and do what I did,” he said. “Seems like the time of year that people should be happy and get together as a family and enjoy life.”

Because he has seen 77 Christmases, you might think it would be difficult for Doug to pick just one as his favorite. It’s not.

Levisay had a feeling last year that her dad needed a little extra Christmas.

“We hopped on a plane Christmas Eve,” she said. “We were there for 24 hours, and it’s the best thing I ever did.”

The ruse started with a knock on the Swans’ door. Doug opened it to find a person dressed as Santa and wondered who in the park it could be. Santa was on a scavenger hunt and needed to find something (or someone) from Minnesota.

As they stepped out in front of the Swans’ mobile home to take a photo, Levisay pulled off her disguise and gave her father a surprise he’ll never forget.

Almost a year later, Doug still tears up when he talks about it.

“That was the best Christmas I ever had,” he said.