Hundreds flocked to the new and improved Kringle House on Saturday to welcome Santa to town. This year the Christmas-themed celebration has moved to Heart Mountain Hall — and it’s bigger and better than ever.

The annual Rotary Club event has grown quickly from its humble beginnings in 2019 in a tiny house on Bernard Street, now filling every corner of the largest facility in town and possibly this side of Santa’s workshop. In its current form, this factory of holiday cheer at the Park County Fairgrounds might seem huge. But anyone who has met Chris and Anita Pelletier — who made the dream of the Kringle House a reality — knows they are probably already wondering how to build a larger facility before the 2022 holiday season.

“It took five long days to assemble everything in here, but the team has been working on it since last May,” Chris said, eyeing a long line of families leading out into the parking lot, waiting to get a glimpse of the displays and its special guest, Santa Claus.

Crew members worked long hours each day prior to Saturday’s grand opening. While everyone knows Old Saint Nick is from the North Pole, it’s a little known fact that many of his helpers are part of a gang of elves from Chicago.

Joan Beauchamp remembers walking down State Street in the Windy City about 70 years ago. She can still remember Uncle Mistletoe at Marshall Field’s and Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer down the street at Montgomery Wards. Christmas in the big city are fond memories from her childhood, but she prefers the mountain views and friendly folks of Park County, she said.

Along with her daughter, Tina, and Debbie Laster, who also moved to Powell from Chicago, they decorated 14 Christmas trees for the event.

“Decorating the trees and all that brought back a lot of memories from my childhood when I was growing up,” the 76-year-old Beauchamp said.

“Each tree you do is from your own head,” said Laster. “It’s not like they said you have to do the trees a certain way. You just use your imagination.”

The lights sparkle throughout the facility’s 10,400 square feet of space. At the entrance, volunteers are ready to collect donated non-perishable food items in lieu of an entry fee. Once through the main gate, dozens of local businesses are represented in their own sections celebrating the season.

The showstopper is an elaborate train set circling a happy village in a wonderful winter-scape. The tracks encircle hundreds of buildings with villagers going about their business and the train crosses a bridge, tooting its horn at ice skaters and all who stop and watch the magnificent loop.

Admission to the Kringle House is suggested to be $10 a family or the donation of non-perishable food items which go directly to Loaves and Fishes — Powell’s emergency food pantry. 

But there really isn’t a price for admission, Chris Pelletier said. “No one will be turned away.”

While the Rotary Club’s intent is to raise funds for the food pantry, they are also giving back to those in attendance. The first 200 families to come to the Kringle House this weekend, beginning Friday at 5 p.m., will receive a turkey just for showing up (as long as supplies last).

“An anonymous donor provided us with more than 250 turkeys,” Pelletier reported Monday.

About 50 of the turkeys were sent to the American Legion as they try to help put food on the tables of area families who need assistance this year.

“We’re very grateful for the generosity of our community,” said Patty Paulsen, president of the American Legion Post 26 Auxiliary and one of dozens of volunteers working to help needy families in the Big Horn Basin.

“The last two years have been tough,” she said. “But this year is harder in many ways. With price increases, everything is going up except people’s paychecks.”

Paulsen said 30 volunteers work year-round to help provide food in the area. More than 200 families lined up at the American Legion last weekend for food assistance.

“It’s hard for people to walk through that door,” Paulsen said. “We just try to make them feel welcome. The donations from the Kringle House always help them out with their holiday dinners.”

Pelletier also pointed to Rotary Club and local residents who volunteer to work the Kringle House. “They’re here 10 hours a day,” he said. “We couldn’t make this happen without every one of them.”