Now in our 6th year, the Santa Claus Museum takes you on a walk through time exploring the birth of this tiny town as it was first laid out on paper in 1846. Moving from one room to the next, you can immerse yourself in historical documents, photos and artifacts illustrating the progression of the town from Santa Fee (pop. 65) to the present day Santa Claus (pop. 2,300). Among the highlights, Postmaster James Martin’s fight to retain the town name of Santa Claus and his yearly efforts to answer waves of children’s letters to Santa that overwhelmed his tiny post office every December.

In addition to the history of the town, museum founder Patricia Koch has also included mementos from her family including her father, world-renowned Santa Jim Yellig.

“Cheep cheep. CHEEP!” The sound was unmistakable and pretty adorable. Opening Day for the Santa Claus Museum & Village is Saturday, May 4^th and we have been gearing up for the season for the past few weeks. However, I discovered yesterday that we had a few (excuse the pun) “early bird” visitors. It looked like our historic Santa Claus Church was the new home for a nest of hungry baby birds. Now depending on your point of view, this little tidbit of information may trigger feelings of excitement (“look honey, aren’t they cute”) or annoyance (cue the incoherent muttering about those wild critters making a mess). Not for me. The presence of these little guys caused a feeling of utter panic.

Let me back up.