Town of Watson, Saskatchewan

Santa Claus Designer: Meldron Plastics Ltd (Regina)

When Built: November 26, 1996 Dimensions: Height: 20 Feet (6 Metres) Weight: 1500 Pounds (679.5 Kilograms) Construction Materials: Fibreglass over a wire frame Location: Southeast corner of the intersection of Highways 5 and 6

Reason for Building:

In 1932, "Jake" Smith, a Watson hardware merchant conceived of the idea of a Santa Claus Day. If Santa Claus spent days in the city stores why can't he spend a few hours in Watson. So one Saturday in December Santa came on the afternoon passenger train to meet the children and hand out gifts. This idea took off and the community made a day of it with children coming from the surrounding towns and rural areas. Eventually other prairie towns began having Santa Claus Days but the Town of Watson claims to be the Home of the original Santa Claus Day. In recognition of this, they erected their monument.

Additional Information:

The town has erected a giant "present" (which serves as a garbage bin), as well as a sleigh that contains a picnic table. There are also wooden cutout elves with the faces missing, so visitors can put their heads through and have a photo taken. The site is lit up with Christmas lights.

Project cost nearly $12,500.

Meldron Plastics Ltd. of Regina also built the snowman in Kenaston, SK. Here is a shot of the sleigh that goes with Santa:

Just north of Watson (Daphne?) is a market garden that features:

Tiremen

Information Source: Town of Watson and Lorri Thacyk

Picture Source: Samson Yee, Neil Bryce and Len Suchan