Santa's Village News
Santa's Village History
Santa's Village Skyforest
Santa's Village Scotts Valley
Santa's Village Dundee
H. Glenn Holland
J. Putnam Henck
Bumble Bee Monorail
Santa's Village Photo Gallery
Santa's Village Activities
The Santas of the Villages
Santa's Houses
K. Gordon Murray
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
Bobsled Ride - Craig Polson
Scotts Valley Employees
Scotts Valley Chapel
Scotts Valley Santa's House
Santa Claus - Phillip L. Wenz
Santa Phil's Goodbye Dundee
Scotts Valley Endangered Plant
Scotts Valley Borland
Santa's Village Shop
Santa's Contributors
Sant'as Village Links
Santa's Village Home Page

 

Do you have photos you'd like to share? Do you know where parts of Santa's Village went to?
Please contact us.

Santa's Village Contributors

If you have any souvenirs, pictures or stories to contribute, you
can email us here. If you need to mail your photos to us, be sure
you send us the copies of the originals or included a SASE so we
can return them after scanning. Mail to:

Santa's Village
c/o Wild Wolf Webmasters
PO Box 5156
Santa Cruz, CA 95063

This part of Santa's Village memories are always going to have new names added to it as people like you send us their photos of the Christmas theme parks. You can take photos of the Santa's Village items you've collected and email them to us. Go to the closet and dig out those old family photos from when you visited Santa's Village ... even better, if you have home movies of Santa's Village, we'd really love to have a copy for publication.

Maybe you don't have any photos, but you remember what it was like when you visited Santa's Village ... sit down and write about your memories, email it to us, and we'll add your memories to our web site too!

Do you own one of the rides from the old Santa's Village theme park or some of the props? We want to know where are they now?

Our Santa's Village Contributors

Bobbie Grennier -
Responsible for most of this web site and writing about some of the history of the parks.

Mat Lindstedt -
Donated the domain name and contributed Santa's Village Scotts Valley documents.

Santa Phil Wenz -
He's the Santa at the Dundee Santa's Village and help us with historical documents.

Craig Polson -
Owns the bobsled ride from the Scotts Valley park and has contributed video, photos and documents.

Glory Anne Laffey and Marion Dale Pokriots -
Historical information on the property of Scotts Valley Santa's Village

Santa's Village takes great pride in presenting the book that commemorates the Dundee Santa's Village in Illinois. It's written by the last Santa Claus of the Santa's Village parks, and his historical knowledge of all the parks will delight you with insidghts and memories alike. Get your copy of Santa's Village here.

Images of America
SANTA’S VILLAGE
PHILLIP L. WENZ

Since 1959, Santa’s Village in Dundee, has entertained millions. The park was born of a man who as a child had no real Christmas. Glenn Holland grew up in California during the Great Depression. His parents died by the time he was 18 years old, leaving him to care for his younger sister. As a father, he tried to give his own children the type of Christmas that he only knew in his dreams. In the early 1950s, struck with inspiration, Holland sat at his kitchen table one day and started to sketch his idea for a Christmas fairyland where all the magic of the holiday would come to life: Santa’s Village. Holland and general contractor Putnam Henck built three Santa’s Villages, two in California and one in Dundee.
 
Phillip L. Wenz is the Dundee Park’s resident Santa Claus and official historian. Besides his duties at Santa’s Village, Wenz has been seen in numerous televised parades and national holiday events. Utilizing his personal collection of pictures, memorabilia, and rare park photographs, readers can once again reminisce about the fun of Santa’s Village throughout the years. It is all here, the Christmas Tree Ride, the twirling Snowballs, Santa’s House, and the Frozen North Pole.

The Images of America series celebrates the history of neighborhoods, towns, and cities across the country. Using archival photographs, each title presents the distinctive stories from the past that shape the character of the community today. Arcadia is proud to play a part in the preservation of local heritage, making history available to all.

Sponors of Santa's Village:

Christmas Kids - a delightful website full of historical information about Christmas.

Organic Candy - a more healthful sweet treat for your kids, especially if they suffer from allergies.