PLOVER—Every Oct., inflatables sprout across the yard of the Dorn family’s Plover home. Halloween characters line the yard, with a 20 foot tall werewolf and witch looming above. The group of inflatables are a welcome sight to the neighbors.
While the Dorn family, with the help of some neighbors, friends, and extended family, enthusiastically put out all 132 inflatables, they do so for more than just the cheery fall aesthetic. They do it for one furry officer at the Plover Police Department, K9 Karma.
When Wyatt Dorn was getting bullied in school, he found joy in seeing Karma and Officer Anderson around in the community. Initially seeing the pair at the Safety Fair, Wyatt began seeing them more and more. So much, in fact, that he wanted to do something to give back to Karma.
Tanya Dorn, Wyatt’s mother, told her son he had to find a way to give back to Karma. After some brainstorming, they decided to put up 40 Halloween themed inflatables in their yard, accepting donations as a fundraiser for Karma. The Dorn family began the fundraiser in 2023 with 40 inflatables and $1,600 raised. By 2025, their stash of inflatables had grown to over 100 with $6,132.25 raised.
This year, 132 inflatables are prepared for the fundraiser. For 2026, Wyatt is hoping to raise $7,000.
The fourth-grader walked around the yard, with most of the inflatables taller than him, pointing out his favorite— a five-foot-tall bunny from the movie Five Nights at Freddie’s. “At least that’s today’s favorite,” Tanya said while Wyatt pointed out the bunny from across the yard.
The fundraiser, which due to increased demand, runs for three days. Residents can grab a meal, participate in donated raffle baskets, and leave donations as they walk through the maze of inflatable creatures.
Wyatt’s Inflatable Fundraiser brings people from across Central Wisconsin. “We’ve had people who driven quite a ways to come see the inflatables, we’ve had folks who stop in on their way home from a long vacation because they wanted to make sure they could see it. The support has been overwhelming.” Tanya said.
An increase of community interest has led Mike Dorn, Wyatt’s father, to add more electrical outlets to the home to accommodate the growing collection of inflatables. “I hired an electrician to add three more outlets to the outside of the house, it’s the only time of year we use them.” Mike said.
While Officer Anderson and Karma always attend the fundraiser, the rest of the Plover Police Department shows up, too.
“There’s always at least one squad car here,” Mike said, “sometimes we’ll have three to four officers here. They are always really great about stopping by.”
“Last year, we had a firetruck parked right out on the street.” Tanya added.
Police officers, firefighters, and EMT’s who attend the fundraiser get a free meal.
“This has also been a great way for not only other kids, but for the community, just to see how great our officers are. To show that they are here to help us—with anything.” Tanya said.
Wyatt not only knows that Officer Anderson and Karma help protect the community, he also knows that the pair are able to help him with his own troubles.
“Officer Anderson has been the best. He told us that if Wyatt ever needs anything to just give him a call. And when we have, he’s here within a day, just helping Wyatt with whatever he needs.” Tanya said.
100% of the donations raised from Wyatt’s Inflatable Fundraiser go directly to Karma’s K9 fund at the Plover Police Department. That money is used for anything Karma may need, from veterinary bills to training classes. When Karma, the six-year-old Belgian Malinois, retires any money in her fund will be used to bring a new dog to the department.
The Dorn family hopes to keep their fundraiser growing, just as their inflatable collection grows. Wyatt has grown accustomed to receiving inflatables as gifts, and Mike and Tanya have grown to keeping an eye on clearance sections for deals on new characters (as they to date have yet to own a duplicate of an inflatable). While they only display Halloween inflatables and characters, Mike will buy other themed inflatables for their parts.
“I’ve gotten pretty good over the years at becoming an inflatable mechanic. Sometimes I’ll buy random inflatables just for their parts, or if I need just a new fan, or something like that.” Mike said.
Tanya and Mike say there isn’t much of a design to the layout of the inflatables, but they put a few on the edge of their yard for the neighbors. Like a Spider-Man hanging at the edge of their yard, a nearby neighbors favorite superhero. Their neighbors help with the undertaking of bringing the inflatables to life, a process that takes all of Sept.
As the fundraiser enters into its fourth year, Mike said he will get stopped when he is out shopping. Not because people recognize him, but because people recognize Wyatt.
Pioneering this fundraiser has made Wyatt and his family local celebrities, but Tanya said the most important thing it has given Wyatt is self confidence.
“It’s just the people praising him and, you know, telling him, ‘you're doing a good job.’ I think that really helps him, and it builds his self-esteem, especially having the bullying situation where he was sticking up for kids, and getting hit and picked on. For people to say, ‘hey, you're doing a good job,’ and praise him for what he's doing—I think that's really built up his self-esteem a lot.” Tanya said.
Wyatt’s Inflatable Fundraiser will run on Oct 16 from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Oct. 17 from 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., and Oct. 18 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. The three day fundraiser is located at 701 9th Street, Plover.
After receiving a donation from the Crystal Grand Music Theatre in Wisconsin Dells, numerous concert tickets are up for grabs in raffle baskets in addition to other donated prizes.
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