When our family moved to California from England in 1979 (when I was age 12), my brother Phil and I wanted to visit Santa's Village (in Scott's Valley, off Highway 17 on the way to Santa Cruz) more than any other place in the world. - http://www.booksandsuch.com/blog...
Jan 25, 2015
from
Amira,
Mike Nencetti,
John (bird whisperer),
Halil,
RetiredTeacherD,
Zulema ❧ spicy cocoa tart,
etesien,
Ken Morley,
ello fizgherard,
Sir Vali,
Mark H,
Alix May,
Anika,
Starmama,
#cryptic,
Jenny H.,
Nils Sandin,
WoH: Professor MOTHRA,
Stephan Planken,
imabonehead,
Gabrielle,
Corinne L,
CW,
bentley,
Tamara J. B.,
Adam B,
and
Jennifer Dittrich
liked this
(Image from a blog post by a woman named Wendy Lawton with her own recollections of visiting Santa's Village.)
- Stephen Mack
My father had become tired of living in England, feeling that the tax rate had grown too high and the standard of living had grown too low. There was labor unrest (I recall nurses, taxicab drivers, and garbage collectors all being on strike at the same time) and my father wanted to move us to Silicon Valley. But the house he'd bought wasn't ready yet, so when we moved in the Summer of 1979, we rented an apartment in south San Jose, near Cottle Road.
- Stephen Mack
At the time, there was a theme park not too far called Frontier Village.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki...) There wasn't much to do for us in Summer -- my dad was working, we didn't know anyone, so my mother would take me and my brothers Phil and Rob and sister Jo to Frontier Village quite a bit, until we got sick of it. But we saw signs advertising Santa's Village.
- Stephen Mack
The ads made the place look magical: Igloos and cabins and sleigh rides and reindeer and elves and mushroom houses and treehouses and snow.
- Stephen Mack
We'd pester my mother endlessly to visit. But it was a long and hot summer, and my mother had zero interest in driving over the Santa Cruz mountains on highway 17 to visit the place. (She was always a bit of a nervous driver, and highway 17 had a deservedly awful reputation as a dangerous highway -- before it was upgraded, it was poorly graded, prone to closure due to rockslides, had [and still has] very windy turns, and was frequently shut down due to accidents.)
- Stephen Mack
Occasionally we'd go to the beach in Santa Cruz when my mother was feeling brave enough, so we'd drive by the Village in Scotts Valley, catching brief glimpses of it from out the window. And it seemed like it was shut down -- we thought just for the Summer.
- Stephen Mack
It got to the point where we'd built it up in our minds as being greater than Disney World, Sea World, Six Flags and Marine World all rolled into one.
- Stephen Mack
Eventually our mother promised us a visit when it got closer to Christmas.
- Stephen Mack
It became her go-to stick and carrot. "If you don't clean up your room right now, you can forget about Santa's Village." "Good job on that test. When we visit Santa's Village, you can have an extra reindeer ride."
- Stephen Mack
And so then the fateful day in October was settled, and we all bundled up in our VW camper van (my mom always liked VW vans) for our visit.
- Stephen Mack
We were all so excited it was indescribable. My youngest brother, Rob, was nearly carsick from the windy road. But we finally took the exit for Santa's Village (called, to this day, "SANTAS VILLAGE ROAD" on the exit sign) and drove into the parking lot.
- Stephen Mack
The lot was deserted, but we attributed that to us being early (the flyer we had said it was open at 11, but we got there before 10:30).
- Stephen Mack
The gates were padlocked. A sign, with the ink from the letters smeared and leaving trails of ink, said: SANTAS VILLAGE CLOSED FOR REMODEL REOPENING CHRISTMAS 1980
- Stephen Mack
We were heartbroken.
- Stephen Mack
We hadn't thought to call ahead.
- Stephen Mack
The world wide web was not even in an embryonic stage. So there was no web site to consult.
- Stephen Mack
Dejectedly, we got back in the car and eventually settled on the steam train rides at Roaring Canyon in nearby Felton.
- Stephen Mack
I don't think it's inaccurate to say I was in tears.
- Stephen Mack
I never forgot that sign. Starting in November of 1980, a year later, at age 13, I began calling the phone number of the place to find out when it would re-open.
- Stephen Mack
The recording on the phone number had few details ("Ho Ho Ho! You've reached Santa's Village. We are currently closed. Please leave your message for our elves after the beep.") And then one day, the number was disconnected.
- Stephen Mack
We would hear rumors of remodels and transactions to re-open the place.
- Stephen Mack
Every time we'd drive by, the igloos and mushroom buildings and cabins looked a bit more worn down.
- Stephen Mack
By about 1985, when I graduated from high school, there was no longer much sign that there had been a theme park there. And honestly I don't think I really gave up on wanting to visit the place until about then.
- Stephen Mack
It lives in my mind and heart today as a metaphor -- for longing, for a promise of enchantment, a broken promise.
- Stephen Mack
But someday, I will take my children to Santa's Village. We will ride the sleigh ride. We will visit Santa. We will see elves making toys. We will climb the tree house to survey the snow-lined cabins. Christmas is eternal. Somewhere. Someday. Somehow.
- Stephen Mack
-- fin --
- Stephen Mack
**claps** finally!! :)
- Ken Gidley
I had the great pleasure of visiting Santa's Village several times as a child - but it was in the San Bernadino Mts in So. Cal., near Big Bear Lake. It shut down in 1998, but rumors of a resurrection exist: http://themeparkadventure.com/santas-...
- Ken Gidley
I can understand how disappointing it must have been for you, Stephen. But can you imagine the disappointment in your parents seeing that sign and realizing the stick and carrot was gone? :)
- Stephan Planken
Ken, wow, fascinating link, thanks -- maybe there is a chance I will one day take my kids to a Santa's Village.
- Stephen Mack
Stephan, I'm sure you're right, but it's also balanced against the fact they never had to hear us beg for a visit anymore... :)
- Stephen Mack
I'm in a Santa's Village Facebook group (also one for Frontier Village) and it's really cool to see members' old pictures of their visits. Someone even converted old home movies & posted them. I completely understand the longing you describe - it held a very similar thrall over me too, even when I was a teen living in Ben Lomond seeing the abandoned park every day, it felt like something on my childhood to-do list that I'd never gotten to check off.
- Starmama
This was the completely opposite of our childhood. When we moved to CA, seeing the ads for Santa's Village freaked us out so much, it became a threat with my mother. "If you don't clean your room/eat your veggies/pass that test, I'm going to take you to Santa's Village!"
- Anika
Anika: That's awesome.
- Stephen Mack