This Holiday Season Is The Last For Santa's Land In Putney

(Host) This weekend marks the end of a 54-year run for a once-popular roadside attraction.  Barring a holiday miracle, Santa's Land USA in Putney will close on Sunday.

The theme park's owners say they're not getting enough visitors to make ends meet. But since their announcement, Santa's Land has been packed.

VPR's Susan Keese has more.

(Keese) It's a short walk through a miniature covered bridge to the gaily painted depot where the Santa's Land Express is waiting.

(Wells) "All aboard the Santa's Land express. All aboard! We have a few more riders and we got more, all aboard!"

(Keese) Tim Wells, who owns the park with his wife Leslie, has been driving the train for eight years. He's seen crowds like these maybe once or twice on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

And while the turn-out is gratifying.

(Wells) "It's a two-edged sword, you know. If it'd been like this all along, things would have been great."

(Keese) The 65-acre park sits in a grove of tall pines overlooking the Connecticut River on Route 5. It's populated by cheerful molded plastic figures and wooden cutouts of friendly cartoon animals.

(Wells) "Coming up on your left we have a local icon, the Purple Plum Man. He is Humpty Dumpty's cousin."

(Keese) There are real animals, too - llamas, donkeys, goats, sheep, a resident deer herd. And plenty of room to play.

Tim's wife, Leslie Wells, serves up burgers, gingerbread, and cocoa in the Candy Cane Snack Bar. She says many visitors enjoy the park's lack of sophistication.

(Wells) "It's about something we're all looking for, that safety and predictability. It also is, I think, a little hokey, kind of a throwback to the ‘50s. And we've tried not to change that."

(Keese) Sister and brother Holly and Travis Lane grew up in Putney. They've come with their children and spouses.

(Holly Lane) "My sister used to work here. We had live pageants and I remember being an angel."

(Travis Lane) "Yeah, real donkeys, real camels real goats. It was awesome."

(Holly Lane) "Yeah, the parking lot here was packed in the summer. Course, it hasn't been like that for years, to that degree."

(Keese) When Santa's Land opened in 1957,  Route 5 was Vermont's major North-South highway. Then Interstate 91 came along and passed it by, leaving the park in the boondocks.

Santa's Land was in bad shape when the Wells bought it in 2003. The couple put a lot of work and money into restoring it.

Things were turning around when the recession hit.  Leslie Wells says they're still waiting for a rebound.

(Leslie Wells) "I think that if we could get from here to there, Santa's Land could survive, we could make a living and go on. But I think like all Americans now, this is just a really tough time to get through. And we don't have the resources to do that."

(Keese) At Santa's workshop, there's a flurry of hope. Mark McKeen of Stoddard, New Hampshire, came here as a boy. Then he brought his own kids. He's here with his grandchildren now.

(McKeen) "And when I saw in the paper that this place was closing it just about tore my heart apart."

(Keese) McKeen asks Santa - who's known outside the park as Joe Bailey - if there's any way to save the park. Santa confides that he's not positive every alternative has been explored.

(Santa) "Anybody who has any ideas, I wish they'd communicate with Leslie or Tim."

(Keese) But Leslie Wells says the rides have already been put up for sale. She says it's a shame. But chances are that after this weekend, Santa's Land will become a memory.

For VPR News, I'm Susan Keese.