The house that Santa built

Christmas event seeks to make massive donation to emergency food pantry

Posted 12/15/20

As members of the Powell Rotary Club and volunteers unloaded a 47-foot trailer jam-packed with Christmas-themed collectibles, the mastermind and dozens of volunteers quickly started piecing together …

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The house that Santa built

Christmas event seeks to make massive donation to emergency food pantry

Posted

As members of the Powell Rotary Club and volunteers unloaded a 47-foot trailer jam-packed with Christmas-themed collectibles, the mastermind and dozens of volunteers quickly started piecing together a winter wonderland in Homesteader Hall at the Park County Fairgrounds.

On the first day of construction of the Kringle House, blue masking tape marked off the floor plan. But Chris Pelletier, owner of Heart Mountain Hearing and yuletide savant, already had the layout built in his head. He’s been running through the plans day and night for months. He began his dream of this year’s grand display while still running last year’s inaugural Kringle House in a small home on Bernard Street.

Thousands of decorations filled the 6,000-square-foot hall at the fairgrounds — so much so that there was barely room to build the infrastructure for the displays.

“Do you think we have enough?” Pelletier asked in jest, looking around at the loosely organized piles of glittery joy.

“I’ve got a whole garage full of Christmas trees coming tomorrow,” he said, vocalizing the logistics running through his head. “OK. One thing at a time.”

Six days later, the doors would open. Actors in costume would welcome visitors into a slick operation of cheer-making. The piles of boxes and building supplies were gone and, in their place, a virtual palace of Christmas cheer.

Imagine a massive “wow” room complete with falling flakes of manmade snow surrounding a dreamscape of holiday items, including a tree tastefully decorated with heirlooms. Then there’s a toy train doing ovals as the shimmering snow is caught in the special lighting. Once visitors take in the initial experience, two life-size nutcrackers invite them to begin a trip through a maze of special displays sponsored by area businesses. It’s impossible to absorb it all without spending hours exploring the massive effort put into every detail. Multiple trips might help, but that’s the idea. Because for every trip to the Kringle House, more food will stock the shelves of the area emergency food pantry for those in need. All proceeds from the display are going to Powell Valley Loaves and Fishes.

For Pelletier, Christmas is a time of giving. His passion is helping those in need.

“What can I do to make someone else’s bad life better?” he asked. “That’s why I came up with the idea for Kringle House. I know a lot of people that need food. We did it last year. It was pretty good. Then I wanted to make it bigger and better. You can’t just rest on what you did last year.”

The project was built by Rotary Club members and volunteers from businesses and the community, using Pelletier’s private collection of Christmas gear and myriad donated items. On day one the group started a short five-day window to get the Kringle House up and operational — not a lot of time considering the massive upscaling from last year’s holiday charity drive. The crew put hundreds of hours into the displays over the week. Socially distanced, of course.

“We didn’t keep track of [the hours], but I counted 24 [volunteers] — some every day, some just once; what I can tell you is everyone’s temperature when they were there,” said Powell Rotarian Cindy Rose.

Pelletier, president-elect of the club, pushed hard through the construction. He put in 80 hours on the project, beyond his full-time job.

“I slept yesterday,” he joked.

Besides the 17 members of the Rotary Club, Steve Durfee was on loan to help from Murdoch’s and 307 Moving sent two employees to assist. Almost every day members of the community wandered into the hall looking to help. Still, the amount of work and the intricate plans envisioned by Pelletier may have some of the club members looking for a recount of the election results by the time it’s all over, club member Jon McDowell ribbed.

“The great part of being in the Rotary is the opportunity to do community service,” McDowell said. “I think that’s why this is gonna be a neat event.”

Many precautions have been taken to allow the event to happen, Pelletier said. All of the characters are masked and there’s plenty of room to stay 6 feet apart.

Last year, the Kringle House collected a few thousand pounds of donated food; this year the club has committed 5,500 pounds. There is more need this year due to the pandemic and struggling economy. The Rotarians are determined to get resources to the pantry and eventually in the hands of those needing assistance.

“I want 10,000 pounds,” he said, then repeats it, as if reminding himself what this is all about. “I want 10,000 pounds.”

Pelletier noted that both of Powell Valley Loaves and Fishes’ big food drives were called off this year due to COVID-19.

“There’s a lot of people unemployed. There’s a lot of people that are stuck at home. The food bank needs help right now,” he said. “We’re gonna make this work one way or another. We’re gonna pull this off.”

Admission to the Kringle House is set at $10 or a donation of non-perishable foods.

“It’ll be huge!” Peggy Snyder, volunteer food coordinator for Powell Valley Loaves and Fishes, said of the support. “Even last year what they donated to us is unbelievable. It’s a blessing.”

The Kringle House’s grand opening was Saturday and the display will be open weekends from noon to 8 p.m. and weekdays 5-8 p.m. through Christmas Eve. Starting on Dec. 26, the crews will have three days to pack it up — a task Pelletier said is more difficult than the construction. Everything is fragile and has its own box. And they’re going to need it all again: There’s no doubt Pelletier is already planning on a bigger and better Kringle House for next year.

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