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Sprucing up Santa Claus Lane
McCOOK, Neb. -- McCook Art Guild member John Clesson has more than 500 hours of time spent sprucing up the Santa Claus Lane display that adorns the Norris Avenue islands during the holiday season. Clesson and his helpful VK Electronic elves recently returned a refurbished batch of the Norris Avenue holiday icons to storage and picked up the last batch to be brought back to their previous glory at the McCook Art Center.
History
According to a 2016 article published in the Gazette and authored by historian Walt Sehnert, most of the signs were originally designed by Carl Orrin, an employee of Swanson Sign Company of McCook. The sign company’s owner, W.K. “Swanie” Swanson, was intrigued by new 3M products he had learned about in the early 1950’s.
The products were Scotchlite reflective tape and 3M reflective paint, and they were used on the signs. According to Sehnert, “The figures were colorful in the daytime, and at night did not need to be lighted, as the lights from passing automobiles provided the illumination, producing a dazzling bright scene. In addition, the figures were arranged on the islands so that traveling to the north on Norris Avenue, viewers could follow the sequence of the biblical Christmas Story, of Shepherds, Wise Men, and Christ in the manger, through the brightly illuminated figures. Turning around on Upper Norris Avenue, viewers were treated to the secular, Santa Claus story of Christmas as they came back south.”
Sehnert wrote that Santa Claus Lane was a huge success, with merchants sponsoring the figures and people flocking to McCook from all over the area to view the scene. He also noted that Swanson Sign Company received much acclaim from trade journals and the 3M company for the innovative use of the new product.
1976 Restoration and addition:
In the 1970s, Ivan Schmid, a McCook businessman, wrote that the funding for the original Santa Claus Lane came from the chamber of commerce. They paid for ten signs. Schmid wote, “And to satisfy his own creative feeling about the project, W.K. Swanson donated several Christmas posters.”
Schmid also wrote that in 1966, the original Santa Claus Lane was stored for 10 years in the firehouse building at the Army Air Base and that a “new Santa Claus Lane made a second debut on Nov. 28, 1976. Included in the lane displays are many entirely rebuilt or repainted figurines, several original displays and some new ideas, such as the glowing blue and gold figurine of Baby Jesus and the Virgin Mary, designed by the late Norma Strunk.”
Schmid wrote, “The Lane Committee began working on the displays in June, renovating crumbling figures for the holiday season. Many volunteers helped with the rebuilding according to Ivan Schmid, chairman. Mainstays were Mrs. Strunk, Ken Kucker, Lamoine Motter and Gary Winter.”
2008 Restoration:
In January 2007, a Gazette article continued the Santa Claus Lane saga, informing the public that Debbon And David McConnell of McCook were beginning renovation of the signs. At that point, there were 50-some signs, although some were “beyond repair and will have to be replaced.” Funds from the estate of Norma Strunk, who passed away in 1987, were used to finance the 2007 repairs, paint, and supplies.
During the first year, the McConnells along with their sons, Evan, then 14, and Colt, then 12, refurbished 27 of the signs, including the Teddy Bear, the Tin Soldier, the Little City of Bethlehem, Jack Frost, the Smiling Snowman, the Little Candles and the big sign welcoming visitors to Santa Claus Lane. The remaining 16 signs were scheduled to be completed in 2008.
Debbon told the Gazette’s Gene Morris in November of 2007, “This town has given us so much. David and I both grew up here. After David and I spent 11 years moving around in the Air Force, we came back to raise our family."
Colt’s remark in the same article was,” "Just think, Mom, years from now I can tell my children that their Grandma is who painted these signs."