Elder told to un-deck the halls

Housing Authority bans his display

You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch.

It's a tune many of the residents at the Milford Housing Authority elderly housing complex may have had in their minds this past week, after they received word that the Christmas lights and decorations they have put up for three years would no longer be welcome.

On Nov. 20, Douglas Bruce, 69, received a notice slipped under his door from the Housing Authority giving him 24 hours to take down the decorations he spent three weeks putting up.

"The fact of the matter is the way this was done," Bruce said, adding that he would not have been as upset if he had been spoken to in person. "It was handled all wrong."

Bruce said he began putting up the decorations to bring the Christmas spirit into the senior living complex, where many residents struggle to spend time outside.

"This was done for them every year, not for me," the former Marine said. "It's good for me in that I know I am helping them with their holiday spirits."

Bruce said he primarily put the decorations up himself, with a little help from some of his neighbors. In addition to lights, the holiday decorations included music that played in coordination with the flashing lights, he said.

Michael A. Diorio, executive director of the Milford Housing Authority, told the Milford Daily News he ordered the decorations taken down because some of the residents were bothered by the light and the noise.

"I have a responsibility to keep order with the tenants, keep some kind of harmony down there, and you're not going to get that when you allow a tenant or a group of tenants to set the tone for everybody else," Diorio said.

Bruce said he was so distraught that he was taken to the hospital with chest pains the day after receiving the notice.

"I'm really upset about this," he said. "I'm sick, but I'm not so sick I can't take care of my neighbors."

Resident Peggy Intinarelli, 64, said she enjoyed the decorations.

"I'm just kind of disappointed with what happened," she said. "It won't be as glittery and fun as it was before."