This story by Bob Audette was published in the Brattleboro Reformer on June 21.
[P]UTNEY — Santa’s Land is reopening for the season Friday, and people are sitting up and taking notice, and not just those who don’t want to wait 187 days until Christmas.
On June 8, David Haversat, who purchased the Christmas-themed park last year, received The Preservation Trust of Vermont Award for outstanding work in preserving Santa’s Land.
“To many who have loved the place over the decades, the re-opening was a thrill only matched by the delight of children seeing it for the first time,” stated the Preservation Trust’s website.
“The award was significant,” Haversat told the Reformer on Tuesday. “When I bought the property, it was a wreck. It’s very gratifying to have our efforts get recognized.”
Starting Friday, the newly renovated park on Route 5 will be open Friday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., through Labor Day.
“Last year we opened right after Thanksgiving and remained open until Christmas Eve,” said Haversat, who purchased Santa’s Land on May 2017. “We were very busy every weekend, even when it was bitterly cold.”
Haversat, of Oxford, Connecticut, is a magician and auction house co-owner by trade, but fell in love with the Christmas-themed attraction when he was 5 years old.
“I have been going to Santa’s Land since I was 4 or 5,” he told the Reformer last year. “Once, when I was 8, we visited and there was a girl riding a lawn mower. I remember thinking, one day, I would like to be doing that and working here. Little did I know one day I would be trying to buy it.”
And buy it he did.
Santa’s Land was closed in 2011 but then reopened for a short while in 2014. It was shut down when a deputy with the Windham County Sheriff’s Office discovered the corpses of a number of captive deer that had died of neglect. The operator at the time ended up in court on animal neglect charges and was ordered in 2016 to pay $30,000 in restitution for the care of animals that didn’t die of neglect.
A dispute over the ownership of the property stalled Haversat’s purchase of the property, but eventually he was able to take possession and quickly set to work at getting the park open to the public.
“It took a long while, but there was a process that had to be followed,” said Haversat in 2017. “Now the work really begins. The property has been severely neglected. It’s now time to reclaim Santa’s Land and make it great for families to come visit and for local people to enjoy.”
Santa’s Land suffered some vandalism during the cleanup, but Haversat was able to get the park reopened for the 2017 season.
He’s been working this spring, painting and polishing and restocking things that he wasn’t able to get to last year. And for all his efforts, it’s not just the smiles of the little kids that have been his reward.
Founded in 1957 by Jack Poppele, and later operated by the Brewer Family, Santa’s Land on Route 5 in Putney enchanted children and families for more than 50 years before falling into disrepair,” stated the Preservation Trust. “Considering its condition, the park could easily have been wiped away by a purchaser hoping to redevelop the large property.”
“This is a labor of love,” Haversat told the Reformer last year. “It’s about fulfilling a dream and keeping nostalgia alive.”
Haversat continues to work on the restoration of the park’s original attractions and buildings that portray fairy book places and characters from the world of the North Pole. Located in a grove of evergreens on 42 acres, the park features a train ride, holiday dioramas with animatronic figures, painted cottages, a kiddie slide, toddler car rides and a historic 32-horse carousel brought in from the famous Astroland in Coney Island.
However, said Haversat, he has no plans to re-introduce animals to the park, or open the Igloo Pancake House, though food and drinks will be available on site.
After Labor Day, Santa’s Land will be open Saturdays and Sundays through Christmas Eve.
