Rick Carr, member, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, and housing
developer in upper peninsula of Michigan.
Village With Yuletide Theme Growing
By JOHN FLESHER
.c The Associated Press
CHRISTMAS, Mich. (AP) - Julius Thorson created Christmas - a storybook
village in the state's Upper Peninsula where treetops and Lake Superior
glistened and a Santa's workshop turned out miniature trucks, dolls and other
toys.
But Thorson's toy factory burned down in the early 1940s, and for the next
half-century Christmas consisted of little more than a handful of cottages,
trailers, and a few taverns and stores.
Nowadays, Christmas is merrier thanks to a casino that has sparked the local
economy and has some residents predicting a tourism boom that would fulfill
Thorson's wish for a thriving community.
Not that Thorson would approve of people trying their luck at slot machines
and blackjack tables in his town.
``He didn't want anything like that,'' said his former son-in-law Louis
Passinault. ``Gambling has nothing to do with Christmas.''
The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, which opened a small gambling
hall in Christmas six years ago, is expanding the casino to 22,000 square
feet. Even before the grand opening, the Christmas Kewadin Casino is often
crowded with gamblers.
To supporters, the casino is a welcome source of jobs, customers and
prospects for growth in a place that only 150 or so call home. The casino is
to employ 150 workers once the expansion is finished.
``It generates a lot of tourist traffic, and that's what we've needed for a
long time,'' says native Rick Carr, who is developing a housing subdivision
in Christmas.
The village along Lake Superior in the central Upper Peninsula, some 400
miles north of Detroit, is barely a mile from end to end. The area is home to
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and Grand Island National Recreation Area,
most popular during the short summers. Casino boosters say it will draw
tourists all year and fill a need for nighttime entertainment and business.
Thorson, a game warden, opened his toy factory after buying a 40-acre tract
during the Depression. ``He wanted to build a Christmas village, a nice
family place,'' Passinault says.
When the factory burned down, Thorson moved away. Over the years, there were
sporadic efforts to revive the yuletide theme.
The U.S. Postal Service opened a satellite office in Christmas in 1966 and
the year's first yuletide stamp was issued there. The post office has been
inundated every year since with requests to place the Christmas postmark on
cards, packages and letters to Santa.
``We're Santa Claus - at least we get a lot of mail for him,'' says Karen
Beauchaine, who with her husband runs the post office in their convenience
store.
In the 1970s, plywood cutouts of Santa and Mrs. Claus, both about three
stories high, were placed near the highway. Streets were named St. Nicholas
Avenue and Jingle Bell Lane.
But the efforts failed to create the growth Christmas has enjoyed with the
casino in town.
Inside the casino, one of 17 tribal gambling operations in Michigan, are the
flashing neon lights and cacophony of jingles, beeps and rattles typical of
gambling halls. But with the high log ceiling, crossbeams, Santa-and-sleigh
chandelier and carpeting that looks like gift wrap, there's a feel of a
rustic country lodge decked out for the holidays.
``We felt it was important to enhance the Christmas theme instead of clashing
with it,'' manager Karen Heyrman says.
She shrugs off complaints that Christmas and gambling don't mix: ``We do a
lot for the community. I don't think anybody else envisioned the potential
this area had. We took a chance, and once other people saw it, they followed
suit.''
A meat market, an auto garage and a snowmobile and motorbike race track
recently opened. The Beauchaines are enlarging their store to add a gift shop
and a place for Santa to greet kids. Down the road, a gas station and motel
are going up.
Carr hopes someone will revive Thorson's idea of making toys, ornaments or
candy - anything to prevent the yuletide character from being lost.
Don't worry, real estate appraiser Tom Gilbert says. There's no reason for
folks in Christmas to sing, ``It's beginning to look a lot like Vegas.''
``I'm hoping that in 10 years, so much will be going on that people will say,
`Oh, by the way, there's a casino here,''' he says. ``It'll be an
afterthought. That's when we'll know that Christmas has arrived.''
On the Net:
Sault Ste. Marie Tribe:
http://www.sootribe.org/
AP-NY-12-22-00 0118EST
Copyright 2000 The Associated Press.
Pat Noble
Always interested in your Carrs. Don't forget to visit:
<A
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