Philipsburg’s Giant Santa is a Sign of the Season

The giant Santa Claus seen near the Cold Stream Dam in Philipsburg has been a tradition since 1962. Last year it was a backdrop for the film Saint Nick of Bethlehem. (Photo courtesy of Jay Herrington)

By Julie Rae Rickard

PHILIPSBURG – Towering over the Cold Stream Dam in Philipsburg is what may be the tallest Santa Claus in Pennsylvania.

It was 1959 when local artist, Billy Adams, decided he wanted to do something special for Christmas. Encouraged by the other members of the American Legion in Philipsburg, he began to build what would become a 37 foot Santa Claus.

He built it in the basement of the Legion from plywood with 2×4 backing, according to Jay Herrington, of the Philipsburg Elks Club who is currently in charge of the display. Adams chose to make it 37 feet tall because he graduated in 1937.

“It was built in sections and not put together, until it was put up, because it was so big,” Herrington said.

The giant Santa Claus, complete with a bag of toys and toy soldiers first appeared at the Legion in 1962. Originally his arm waved to those passing by.

It was displayed continuously up until the 1980’s when it took a few years off before being restored. At this time it was kept behind the screen at the Rowland Theater. Herrington helped with this restoration.

When Santa returned, he was near the Harbor Inn.

In need of work again, it was stored in the Dahlgren Funeral Home in the 1990’s. Herrington said they had to tear out a wall in the neighboring home to fit it in. Herrington who was working at the funeral home at the time, helped Adams restore it.

When it fell into disrepair again, Adams wasn’t interested in working on it. When he died in 2001, the Elks took it over.

It was at Mitchell’s Oil for one season where it almost blew over and then it was retired again, Herrington said.

In 2005 former PA State Representative Lynn Herman got a grant from the state to restore it. Dave Spotts designed a new frame work and it was re-done “from the ground up”, Herrington said.

Joel Maguire, a sign artist at Penn State was essential in re-painting it.

“His expertise is why it looks like the original,” Herrington said.

The Elks were given an “Award of Excellence for Historic Preservation” from the Board of Governor’s Centre County Historical Society in 2008 for their work on the display.

For the record, Santa’s bag is about 17 feet tall. It contains a wooden block with an “A” for Adams in it.

Herrington said at one point the teddy bear had Mickey Mouse ears on it, but these were painted over and became a hat. The scarf was added later.

There are six soldiers, each of which is nine feet high if you count their guns.

In January 2021, the display was the victim of vandals who damaged the soldiers and some of the lighting.

Herrington explained that he saw everything was fine with Santa and the soldiers around midnight, but the next morning around 7:00 a.m. someone called to tell him the soldiers had been vandalized.

This happened just days before they were planning to take it down.

Keeping the tradition alive, the soldiers were replaced with the help from students of the Clearfield County Career and Technology Center who cut them out of wood. They were then painted by Maguire and Herrington.

Originally, one of the soldiers had a moustache and was winking. Adams did this because he “wanted one to be unique”.

When they made the new soldiers, one was painted the same way to honor the original.

Today Santa is held in place by telephone poles that replaced the previous three flagpoles that were broken in a wind storm.

Santa is usually put up the Saturday before Thanksgiving by several Elks members, but this year it was Dec. 8. You can witness it being put together through a time lapse video on the Philipsburg Elks Facebook page.

If you want to see it in person, you have some time left. It isn’t usually taken down until the first “nice weekend” after Orthodox Christmas on Jan. 7.

The giant Santa Claus has become a symbol to many of the beginning of the holiday season and one people look forward to seeing.

“Santa has been around for 62 years and if your family is like mine, a fifth generation is seeing Santa now,” Herrington said on his Facebook page.