Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town
You better watch out,
You better not cry,
Better not pout,
I’m telling you why:
Santa Claus is comin’ to town.
He’s making a list
And checking it twice,
Gonna find out
Who’s naughty and nice.
Santa Claus is comin’ to town.
He sees you when you’re sleepin’,
He knows when you’re awake,
He knows if you’ve been bad or good,
So be good for goodness sake.
(Written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie in 1934, the song became a hit after being performed by Eddie Cantor on his radio show in November of that year. The song has since been recorded by over 200 artists including Bing Crosby, The Andrews Sisters, Frank Sinatra, Michael Bublé and Bruce Springsteen whose version went Platinum in 1985.)
As sure as the sun rises and sets, Santa Claus will be coming back to Kewanee this Christmas. He will be riding in his sleigh with his master list of who gets what gifts and who does not.
It’s nothing short of a miracle that Santa still comes to Kewanee after three unfortunate incidents that took place years ago. Santa has been knocked out with a pop bottle, punched by the mayor, and run over by angry parents leaving an accidentally shown X-rated film while he was setting up in the lobby to meet the kids.
Back in the days when Kewanee had a thriving downtown, Santa set up shop here more often than now, greeting children in local department stores and other locations in the central business district in the weeks before Christmas while parents shopped.
For many years there was actually a Christmas parade with bands, floats and fair queens braving the cold and sometimes snowy pre-Christmas weather. The floats often depicted various aspects of the Nativity and were sponsored by local churches. The events were sponsored over the years by the Jaycees, Lions Club and Kewanee Chamber of Commerce.
Santa also had a number of helpers who acted as his representatives here. They included Chester Krause, Leo Sinnott, John Ellsworth, Ron Heal, Brock Tumbleson, Ron Heal, Steve Faber and others.
The highlight of the season, however, was Santa’s arrival, always a major event that kicked off the Christmas shopping season in Kewanee. Children and their families gathered in a parking lot downtown, at the train station, or at Midland Plaza. Saving this sleigh and reindeer for Christmas Eve, Santa arrived in various modes of transportation from a helicopter to a fire truck and a horse-drawn (borrowed) sleigh to Dr. Bertelsen’s famous Aeromobile.
Sadly, however, Santa experienced several misadventures while visiting children, with one getting national news coverage.
The Kewanee Voice has researched each incident and found news accounts in the pages of the local newspaper.
Tuesday, Dec. 24, 1974
Last night Santa was injured when a pop bottle was hurled through the side window of the garden house in which he sat meeting local children in a lot on the southeast corner of Second and Main streets.
The bottle struck Santa in the head and broken glass from the window showered him and a little girl who was visiting him, according to Kewanee City Police, the little girl was Callie Nichols, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Barry Nichols, 127 W. Garfield St.
The boy, 18, who threw the bottle was chased down by a citizen who saw the incident, police said. He was tentatively charged with assault and battery and has posted bond. Final charges depend on the owner of the building. Santa, and the girl’s parents, police said. Reportedly, Santa feels prosecution is inappropriate in the Christmas season.
St. Nick was taken to Kewanee Public Hospital where he was treated and released. (According to the court records published Jan. 8, 1975, the boy who threw the bottle was fined $10 and costs and undoubtedly made Santa’s naughty list that year.)
Saturday, Nov. 27, 1976
The Midland Plaza Retailers Association issued a statement late Saturday morning expressing their regret over an incident Friday afternoon at the Midland Plaza Cinema.
Cartoons and a Disney movie were scheduled to be shown to youngsters in the theatre immediately following Santa Claus’ arrival at the plaza by helicopter
But when the movie began it was clear it wasn’t a Disney-type production. According to one MPRA member the movie was not a “stag” film but termed it “off color.”
Apparently there had been a mishap in packaging of the film.
Later accounts stated that the film had arrived at the last minute due to the Thanksgiving holiday and theatre employees did not check it closely to see if it was the right film, turned it on, went to set up the concession stand and did not know that the wrong film was showing.
Unaware of what was happening, Santa, who was getting situated in the lobby to greet the kids afterward, was overrun by angry parents rushing their children out of the theater. It has also been learned from a reliable source that at the time the theatre had shown X-rated films from time to time, and it may simply have been a case of someone picking up the wrong box without reading the title.
Tuesday, Dec. 27, 1988
Henry County State’s Attorney Larry Vandersnick has launched an investigation of Saturday night’s confrontation between Mayor Em Lindbeck and Santa Claus. Santa, who spoke through his local representative Ron Heal, said he was struck by Lindbeck in the stomach, in the eye and in the mouth at a home in Kewanee on Christmas Eve, and today initiated a complaint against Lindbeck.
The incident occurred outside the home of Councilwoman Bonnie Tomlinson where Santa had gone to distribute gifts at a Christmas party. Lindbeck and Santa apparently got into a scuffle as both were leaving the party, and both gave different accounts of what happened.
Santa claimed Lindbeck made statements that warned him he was in danger. Santa said Lindbeck first punched him in the stomach but did little damage due to his ample girth. He then backed away but Lindbeck followed him and struck him in the eye and in the mouth.
Lindbeck said “He just fell down.” He said he followed Santa out of the party because he wanted to talk to him about what he considered to be a derogatory cartoon that has apparently been circulating in Kewanee which depicted him and two other officials in convicts’ uniforms. Lindbeck and three others face charges of election law violations.
Santa said, “I haven’t ever seen that picture, let alone distributed it.”
So, what was this all about?
When the case went before a jury three months later, testimony revealed that Lindbeck’s target was actually Heal, with whom he had a history of “political issues.”
Heal, who was Kewanee Township Clerk, at the time, had been a vocal proponent of changing Kewanee from a mayor-council form of government to a council-city manager form which Lindbeck opposed.
The political cartoon of Linbeck and his co-defendants portrayed as the “Three Stooges” on prison uniforms, may have been what he wanted to “talk” to Santa about, knowing his relationship to Heal, but his political feelings ran much deeper than a cartoon.
Lindbeck pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge of battery but after 90 minutes of deliberation the jury found him guilty. The conviction carried a possible sentence of one year in prison and a $1,000 fine but Lindbeck, who could still serve as mayor in spite of the verdict, had much bigger problems ahead with the election violation charges of which he was later found guilty and removed from office.
This Christmas season, strive to be nice and avoid being naughty because, as the song says, he knows. And above all, treat the Man from the North Pole with respect. No more pop bottles, peep shows or punches in the stomach!
Merry Christmas!
Editor’s note: This column was originally published in The Kewanee Voice’s print edition of the Holiday Herald.
