A sweet holiday tradition may be coming to an end

A home, just a street away from Candy Cane Lane full of holiday decorations and its trademark candy canes, is visited by hundreds in the Yuma community every year.

“Just one. Thank you. Merry Christmas,” can be heard from Phyllis Yablonski’s home every holiday season as many like four-year-old Dominic Torres pick up a sweet treat.

“It’s the north pole,” described Dominic.

He has been visiting the home since he was born. Many in the Yuma community have been doing the same thing, making it a Yuma tradition.

Behind it all is Phyllis.

“Mrs. Candy Cane. Candy cane lady. Grandma candy cane. Candy cane house,” said Phyllis Yablonski, a homeowner, as she described the many names she goes by.

She said this jolly tradition all started by accident.

“We were decorating the fence and the neighbors said, ‘Don’t bother’. The neighbor children are destructive. They’ll ruin the lights and the bulbs. So I told my husband, I have to find a way to keep the children from destroying the decorations. That’s when I started putting candy canes on the fence,” said Yablonski.

But this candy cane tradition, that has lasted more than 20 years, will soon come to an end, according to Yablonski.

“I have stage four lung cancer. I was just diagnosed in October. It is terminal. There is nothing they can do,” explained Yablonski.

Despite her health, Mrs. Candy Cane is focused on enjoying this holiday season with the Yuma community and her family.

She is now reflecting on the legacy she will leave in our community.

“It’s been wonderful watching all these children grow. So many of them say ‘Remember me?’ When you see thousands of children over the holiday, it’s hard to remember each one, but I pretend as if I remember them,” explained Yablonski.