(This story by Harmony Birch appeared in the Brattleboro Reformer on Nov. 22, 2017.)
[P]UTNEY — Santa is returning to his rightful home in Putney.
On Saturday, David Haversat, of Oxford, Connecticut, is officially opening the doors to a park that’s been closed for three years. Santa’s Land will be staffed by nine people. It will be open Saturdays and Sundays, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., until Christmas Day.
Haversat bought the property earlier this year, and since then he’s been getting the park ready, largely by himself.
He’s been coming to the park since he was 7.
“As I walked through the place, I imagined — as a kid — if I owned it, what I would do,” he said. He’s had his eye on the property for years, but it’s always been too expensive to buy.
Since 2014, a dark cloud has hovered over the park, which fell into disrepair after a previous owner was charged with animal abuse. The scandal motivated Haversat. While the park remained vacant, he started buying Christmas supplies and figuring out how he could acquire the property and return it to its former glory.
“I couldn’t let it end like that,” he said.
When Haversat obtained the property, he said, it was in rough shape.
“It was kind of distressed,” he said. “When you drove into the parking lot it was kind of depressing.” The ground was covered in pine needles. There were overgrown trees and bushes. Windows were broken from vandalism.
He started his cleanup efforts in the front of the park, to show folks driving by that there was progress being made. Over the past few months, he’s cleaned the site up, repainted everything, installed a new carousel and added to some of the old attractions.
To get inside, park-goers will enter through a gift shop. Haversat has it stocked with toys, maple candy and all types of Christmas-themed goods.
“It’s the gateway to Santa’s Land,” he said.
Previous visitors won’t recognize a new Santa statue at the front of the park. It stands in place of an old Humpty Dumpty statue.
To access rides, attractions and snacks, customers have to cross Santa’s Sweetheart Bridge.
Growing up, Haversat’s favorite attraction was the train. He said the train has always been popular, but he hopes a new attraction will capture people’s hearts: a carousel from Coney Island’s Astroland.
“It made its trip from Brooklyn, on to here,” he said. “It’s probably the largest carousel Santa’s Land has ever had.” Santa’s Land used to have a merry-go-round, “a small one,” Haversat said. This carousel, though, has 36 horses.
There are some changes to the house where Santa sat and took pictures with children.
“Everyone has cellphones now,” Haversat said. He didn’t see any point in charging people to take photos. Instead, he’s made an animatronic world within the house and, in Santa’s bed, a dozing Santa lies. Meanwhile, the real Santa will be wandering around the park engaging with visitors and handing out candy canes.
Haversat has built up to this moment his whole life. He describes certain childhood activities, such as decorating what he and his family called a “Christmas House,” as practice for what he is doing now. He hopes to run the park for the rest of his life and maybe someday pass it on to his son, Nathan, who is 7. “He’s the same age I was,” Haversat said. “He loves it.”
Nathan isn’t the only one excited for the park’s reopening. Many adults still pine for Santa’s Land. Haversat said several times he’s had people pull into the parking lot while he’s been working on the park. He goes out to greet them, and people share memories and ask when the park will be open.
“I’ve had one lady who said, ‘Are you the man who’s saving Santa’s Land?'” he said. “I said, ‘I’m trying.'”
Haversat is a magician by trade who also owns an auction company that specializes in selling products for magicians. Since he bought Santa’s Land, he said, all of his income from his business has gone into it. “Hopefully I’m not too crazy for buying it,” he said.
The park is populated by old animal pens and feeding stations from the time when it was home to deer and other animals. Haversat said he isn’t going to add animals anytime soon, but he’s leaving the pens in case the opportunity arises.
Tickets will be $12.95, or $10.95 for those age 65 and older.
