No rescue for Santa Claus
This is one in a series of articles written by a Lawrencian and originally published in the Ostholsteiner Anzeiger, in Eutin, Germany on December 24, 2020. See the article as published in German.
by Ralph Gage
German translation by Arne Scholz and Bill Keel
Public celebrations of Christmas will be a bit different in Lawrence, Kansas, this year because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Some events will be canceled entirely and others will take place “virtually” over the internet.
But the celebrations will continue!
One popular event that has been staged for 27 years will not take place at all this year: A parade down the city’s main street, Massachusetts Street, featuring horseback riders and horsedrawn wagon and carriages. This event annually packs the street as people gather for hours ahead of time to watch. The parade was canceled for public health considerations, but organizers plan for its return in 2021.
The Douglas County health department has limited public activities in Lawrence and presently is restricting gatherings to 10 persons., but one area business is helping people continue their Christmas traditions and start new ones. It’s the Strawberry Hill Christmas Tree Farm, located west of the city.
Owner Mrs. Lyn Walther, her husband, Eric, and sons Eric, Mark and Mitch operate the farm, which this year opened November 21. The initial crop of trees was planted in 1976 and the first ones were offered for sale in 1984. Mrs. Walther said it’s not a bit unusual for families to return year after year to buy a fresh tree. It’s also not unusual for former employees to come back, and the number of retirees in Lawrence provides a great blend of people and Christmas stories from customers, she said.
She noted, however, that the pandemic has slowed things at the farm this year—and there are no cookies or cider being offered in the gift shop! Nevertheless, the farm was bustling on its first day of business, selling 10 trees in the first half-hour of operation.
The Hansroth family from nearby Winchester, Kansas, with two children, represented returning customers. Others, Mrs. Walther observed, were building new traditions and memories for their families. She declined to speculate on how the pandemic ultimately would affect business. “It could go either way,” she said, adding that the experience of selecting and harvesting a tree “is positive, it’s fun.”
The annual Lawrence Festival of Trees, featuring an auction of gaily decorated trees sold to benefit, The Children’s Shelter, a local organization, is being adjusted this year because of the pandemic. Reservations are required to view the trees and those who schedule a time to view them must wear masks. The auction itself will be conducted over the internet, said Maren Ludwig of the Shelter.
Massachusetts Street will be decorated with brightly colored lights on its trees and buildings and the usual celebration of turning on those lights will be conducted virtually. One Lawrence “tradition” will not be staged at all this year in consideration of limiting crowds: Santa Claus will not be “rescued” by firefighters from atop the roof of Weaver’s department store in downtown Lawrence. Instead, the Lawrence Arts Center will produce a video featuring drone footage of the lights, musical performances and an appearance by Santa. Sally Zogry, executive director of Downtown Lawrence Inc, a business association representing downtown merchants, said carolers, a traveling stage truck featuring Santa and other activities will replace the “rescue.”
“We are thinking outside the box and working hard to bring Santa to all of our community,” Mrs. Zogry said. Lawrence’s celebrations of Christmas will indeed be changed by Covid this year, but they definitely will not be stopped!
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Ralph D. Gage, jr. (79) is a journalist whose career spanned 43 years, during most of them as reporter and editor of the Lawrence Journal-World. Gage, married and father of two, earned a place in the Kansas Journalism Hall of Fame in 2015. He and his wife Martha have been members of Sister Cities Lawrence since 2014 and have become good friends with Achim Krauskopf, managing editor of the Ostholsteinscher Anzeiger. They visited Eutin in 2019.