Part 2 - My Fourth of July Vacation: A
ride through the Midwest during that patriotic
time of year. (Jerome A. Holst © 2005)
Continued from Page 1
Moving east on Highway 50, I stopped to check my
map and noticed that just a few miles below
Evansville, Indiana on Interstate 64, there was
a town of Santa Claus, Indiana. This was just
too much of a temptation, so I set my sights
south and within a few hours I had entered Saint
Nicholas country.
As I approached the town, I came across the
Santa Claus Cemetery. Now was this were they
laid to rest the faithful elves who manufactured
Santa's toys? I took a stroll about the place
looking for tiny little graves. I thought I'd
find a grave stone that contained a message like
"Here lies Little Tinkle, proud toymaker and
friend to kids everywhere." Sadly, as much as I
looked, I found no such marker and proceeded on
my journey.
The resting place of Santa's dearly departed
elves?
A few miles up the road, I discovered the town
center. Every building in town is decorated with
Christmas ornaments and standing prominently in
front of the municipal building is a statue of
Santa Claus. Surprisingly, as I walked across
the street to get a better look, a real live
deer, I kid you not, came scampering across the
road and then ran away into a wooded area just
down the street. This was one of those moments,
when I cursed (shouldn't curse in Santa Claus
town) but man, I was so mad that I didn't have
my camera ready to snap a shot of the deer. I
have since placed this story in my memoirs under
my "one that got away" tales.
The base of the fiberglass statue reads:
"Dedicated to the Children of the World in the
Name of an Undying Love.
Dec. 25, 1935 Carl A. Barrett
Founded in 1852, the town of Santa Claus used to
called Santa Fe until a threat of legal action
from another town in Indiana with the same name
put pressure on the citizens of their competitor
to change their name. Change they did, and the
citizens' of Santa Claus have never regretted
their decision. During the first or second week
of December, the town celebrates the "Christmas
in Santa Claus and the (14 mile) Festival of
Lights" annual event.
The post office in Santa Claus handles over
200,000 letters during the Christmas Season from
people who want their letters post marked from
this yuletide community. Located on Highway 162,
the Santa Claus post office is the only post
office in the world to carry that name.
Many of the letter addressed to Santa Claus by
children all over the country are sent to the
Santa Claus, Indiana post office. A local
volunteer group called Santa's Elves try to
answer as many of the letters which are
addressed to the likes of Mr. Claus, Kris
Kringle and of course, Santa Claus.
Santa Claus stands ready in the
front of the town's Post Office
Local real estate sites in Santa Claus (zip code
47579) includes Christmas Boulevard, Kringle
Place Boulevard, Candy Cane Lane, Mistletoe
Drive, Christmas Lake Village and Golf Course,
Lake Rudolph Campground and RV Resort, Santa's
Lodge and Holiday Village.
Down the road, the local 100 acres theme park
called
Holiday World and Splashin' Safari
(formerly Santa Claus Land - opened August 3,
1946) attracts thousands of tourists each years.
Located at the junction of highway 162 and 245
in Santa Claus, Indiana, the park features a
Santa's Storytime where Santa Claus reads
stories and sings songs of Christmas to children
of all ages.
There is also a forty ton, twenty-two foot high
concrete Santa Claus statue located on a hill
off of Highway 245 near the Holiday World
Amusement Park. The fiberglass statue in the
town center was based on this statue which was
erected in 1935.
The local shopping center in Santa Claus where
all
the stores flaunt Christmas decorations year
round
Continued >
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