The Three-Story Santa Statue in Evansville, Indiana
“This thing transcends just being here on this corner and people seeing a Santa. It is an icon to our Tri-State. I saw it when I was a kid and always remember it waving. I knew that I was close to home—if we would be gone or something like that—when I saw the Santa,” says Ron McKeethen, the Santa savior.
Santa bounced around to different locations in Evansville starting in 1974 before settling down on the city's north side, where he stood for over 30 years before he fell into disrepair and was hauled away. Then one day, over a decade later, Ron McKeethen spotted Santa looking worse for wear in a junkyard.
“I knew right away what that was. It had stood in Evansville, Indiana, for so long. I took pictures of it and posted it on Facebook, and the next day it had 30,000 responses and I knew right then that somebody had to do something to restore this Santa. The thought right behind that was, ‘well, you're somebody,’” McKeethen explains.
Ron, a commercial painter by trade, and artist Bob Zasadny went to work cleaning and restoring the fiberglass Father Christmas back to festive form.
McKeethen describes, “It wasn't just repainting. He was broken in half. It took a year to put him back together.”
Why the Evansville Santa Matters to the Tri-State
Lots of folks came by to see the progress, including a children's author who wrote a book about Ron and Santa.
“It's called Santa's Gift. Not only does it talk about the restoration process and what it means to Evansville, in the back of the book is a complete history from when it was built all the way up until the time we stood him up,” says McKeethen.
Now Ron is thinking about the future.
“I have six daughters of my own, six granddaughters and a grandson. I want them to be able to experience the joy that I've had, along with the entire Tri-State,” explains McKeethen. “This thing was never meant to stand for 45-50 years as it has now. I'm hoping that some people get interested in it enough to actually do a replica of it that will last for years.”
But for now, Ron, his kids, and the Tri-State area are more than happy with the Santa they have.
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The above video is a clip from Journey Indiana from WTIU. You can watch more segments and full episodes at pbs.org/show/journey-indiana/